Armani the Eskie- The Missing Puzzle Piece

Three days ago we brought Armani home, he is a 9 week old American Eskimo puppy in hopes of keeping our baby girl from being lonely since her best friend/sister isn’t around much anymore. We’ve tried the puppy thing once before and that did not exactly work out. Flashback to Duchess the Chihuahua-Boston terrier mix which lasted an excruciating 3 weeks with us before her original owner begged for her back….she was ran over by a car a week later.

I’ve found Armani to be different in terms of being a really quick learner! In three days I have taught him to sit and we’re already advancing in his potty training! He’s lazy with sudden bursts of playful energy and has these sunken eyes which light up whenever you squeeze his pink “Peppa Pig”

Everything I’ve read on these dogs reminds me puppies are children too, meaning they need lots of love, attention, dominance and consistency. Now we have the perfect pair, and boy do these two fight like brother and sister! He takes her toys, she bothers him and vice versa, and she hates it when he gets too much attention.

Most places won’t touch a puppy so small and one receptionist suggested we buy a regular nail file to smooth out his nails. SO we tried it….and we worsened them! Zombie would scream when he would come within 5 feet of her! After much searching we finally found a spot!

Now I’ve never trained a dog before so for any of you fellow dog owners, please let me know if any tips, tricks, or common practices that could be lifesavers for us in this process! Follow me on Instagram to watch Armani the Eskie grow with us!

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Outcry Tour and the Aquarium

If you follow me on Instagram you know I've been pretty hyped for the Hillsong United concert in Atlanta, GA for awhile now. We'll overlook the things that tried to stall my blessing like our truck being stolen last Tuesday and things at work being INSANE all week; it was all worth it in the end. This time we brought my little sister with us, as the concert was her college graduation present and since we were in town we figured we'd make the most of our trip! My spirit filled with joy at all the young people around me who were there with a common purpose, to worship and praise. It didn't matter what you wore or who you were with, we were there for HIM. I could relive that weekend a million times over if I could.

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Apparently a 7 hour drive is more than some people can handle! So a little about the Georgia Aquarium. If you're able to find discount tickets JUMP at the opportunity ,tickets are . I'd been searching for weeks until the morning we'd planned to go they had just released a 20% discount for the summer. Three tickets for a whopping $32 a piece! The location is enormous in structure but beware once you're inside. The aquarium space was crowded and I became really frustrated after waiting twice to see the Dolphin show only to be told it was at capacity 50 minutes before it was scheduled to start. Otherwise everything is otherworldly, which is weird to say since we go to SeaWorld Orlando virtually once a week. They have great interactive activities for the kids like touching the coral and anemone and a 3D movie. Overall, it's a must-do if you're in the Atlanta area at least once. Zombie was in sea heaven with so many whales and fish.

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Attack of the Scalp Monsters- and How I Survived It

When people see Zombie's big lustrous hair LICE is the last thing that's mentioned. They comment on the time it takes to detangle her hair, how long it is, how beautiful her loose spiral curls are but never-NEVER has lice been mentioned.... until yesterday afternoon.

I have never had lice and my eyes turned into a zero when hubs called me from the barber shop to tell me of his findings. How does it spread? How do you treat it? How can we prevent this from happening again? WHERE did she get it!

I quickly soaked her scalp in vinegar and left it there as if doing a deep conditioning treatment. I left it in her hair for about half an hour while she played in her bubble bath. Her screams and cries from the vinegar's initial contact with her scalp made me cringe! After the 30 minutes were up i simply rinsed her hair with warm water and shampooed- no conditioning followed. I then towel dried her hair, detangled it (ouch!) and used the thin comb in the NIX lice treatment box to go section by section through her hair, weeding out all the little critters. This process was tedious and honestly it really grossed me out; at least Zombie had a sense of humor as I continually told her I was killing all the "monsters" in her hair.

When hubs finally got home it was his turn. He lathered her hair with the orangish cream (beware of the eyes!) and after 10-15 minutes rinsed it out. Following the same steps as I had with detangling her hair and combing through tiny strands until she was all clear.

This morning I was still paranoid, and upon speaking with my mom she advised me to straighten her hair and all the left-over eggs and animals would fry to death. Sure enough I heard them sizzle like chicken on the grill! This was also a great excuse for a length check...someone is definitely up for her first hair-cut! But just the ends-I promise!

If you have any lice stories of your own to share or tips on how to prevent them please comment below!

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Magic in the batter: 3 ingredients to a yummy breakfast

With limited ingredients and an appetite for pancakes I hit the web for some ideas and ran into Paleo pancakes. This recipe only uses 3 ingredients! Bananas, eggs, and cinnamon; we added m&m’s to ours just cause I have to get rid of them.

Mika loved helping me break the eggs and mix the “batter” almost as much as she loved the taste of her creation!

On a side note:

with hair as curly as our little Zombie has it's often difficult to keep it untangled for more than a day-and-a-half (really though!) So I decided before going to bed I would try a braid-out and see how it held up. I LOVED IT! It was as simple as undoing the braids, shaking the roots and viola! A chic, voluminous summer style for our precious Zombie toddler.

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Just a couple of twenty-year olds for a day

In an attempt to bring some normalcy to the craziness in our life, hubs and I took a day to reconnect without the baby; and ride all the roller coasters at Bush Gardens, Orlando. Unfortunately the one ride we left for last (Kwazi) is now closed down! This ride was all wood and has been there for years. making a wooden coaster in Florida should've been better thought out; every morning the engineers had to replace a piece of wood until it was finally decided it was getting too expensive. Now the question is what addition will they make next! I will keep you all posted. It was a day well spent, and although maybe now it doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere. I'm sure looking back it was a baby step towards a better foundation in our relationship.

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