It Was a Roaring Success!

My first Mary Kay party was great! I had a really good time and only felt completely overwhelmed a couple of times! ;) Like when I started and stopped and had to start again on two different people's orders. Yea, not too professional just yet. Hey I was easily distracted!

The first thing I learned is that I need to give myself more time to get ready. It's been so long since I had to set an alarm that I guess I underestimated how much time I needed. I was still on time though, luckily, even though it was without breakfast or my tea - and I barely had time to choose jewelry. Anyway, I helped set up and everything looked great. Then people started to arrive.

It turned out to be a huge party...there were 10 of my guests there. I wasn't expecting that many but it was awesome that my friends and family care enough to come wish me well at my debut! And at the end my stinker Director, Michelle, totally embarrassed the heck out of me and had everyone affirm me by saying what I did well or why I will make a good consultant. Everyone was so sweet and genuine and seemed to really like me - crazily enough. Ha. ;)



We handed out lots of tickets for drawings and played lots of games. It was so much fun! We had lots of laughs. We always do with my friends and family, though, it comes standard.

And here is our winner for Perfect Pucker! Amber takes home the prize for the best lips!

I hope she was listening while she doodled....




Your friendly Mary Kay Consultant thanks you for all your business! Can't wait for next time. I have two more color appointments booked with friends to play and practice with. Getting the hang of it will take a little more time, but hopefully I'll be there soon enough. I feel good about it all so far!

Now for the sales pitch! *Ahem*
Don't forget...free shipping and delivery! No hassle returns and exchanges! Be a hostess and earn free products! Shop online with me at www.marykay.com/heatherblachly

Getting Every Last Drop

Joseph loves his peanut butter! He is just like his mama! We were nearing the end of the jar and were in need of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I got out a butter knife and stared in feeling hopeless. "Not now...not when I already told him he was getting his beloved pb&j!" I moved in for reinforcements and went for the spatula.

Boy was that fun! That was as good as playing with any fancy toy. Joseph helped me get every last drop out of there...

...and lick the spatula clean! And since it was sticky, thick peanut butter, it was a hoot watching him go after it.

Not only did we get our pb&j, but now the jar was already clean and ready for the recycling bin! No rinsing necessary. Note the awesome "cheese" face! That baby is a fool just like his mama.

Mary Kay Calling...

Or maybe that was "Avon". Anyway, say hello to your newest Mary Kay Consultant! My MK gal and I talked about it and I decided I wanted to go for it. I really couldn't tell you why...I don't need a job...don't need the money...certainly don't need more of my time taken up...but I felt compelled to sign on with her. It was impulsive. I think plain and simple, it's my love for makeup and good personal care. (Now you can get me good the next time I'm caught not wearing makeup or have gnarly toes that need to be painted.) I have this crazy dream of being a makeup artist and I think I am living vicariously through MK.

I have my first party and Grand Opening on Sat (tomorrow!!) and I am really excited. I wish I was more organized and trained already...but you have to start somewhere and it's usually the bottom. Josh is pretty excited to help me with my book keeping. I commissioned him right away once they started talking about percentages of profit and inventory costs and expenses - I don't quite have all that down. I can see how it can be hard for someone who doesn't have the business know-how to keep it all straight. It's not hard stuff, but you just have to keep it straight somehow.

I've tried to read and learn this week and it has taken every ounce of strength just to keep it all straight. They sent me so many stinkin' books, CDs, DVDs, pamphlets, forms...makeup...aghhhh!!!...I've had a hard time going over it all. I am the type that wants to read it all, look at everything at least once, touch it all, and I just can't do it in one week. So I'll have to pace myself and keep it going until I get through it all. Mommying/wiving comes first! MK second!

Anyway, I am really really excited about tomorrow and can't wait to see how it goes. My plan was to sell as much as I can in a "silent" manner - handouts, door hangers in the neighborhood and apartments, business cards, etc.....but I certainly do see the benefit of parties. I understand that is what Mary Kay Ash had in mind for how she wanted to sell the products - but there are so many marketing avenues out there that we'll see where I get the most business. Plus, I HATE doing groups...I am a scared, nervous mess when it comes to things like that so I am going to put it off as long as I can. My Director said she can help me with the parties for awhile so I am going to hide out in her hip pocket as long as I can.

So there you have it!! My new business venture! I've always loved Mary Kay and I am genuinely excited about selling it to others and spreading the make up love! ;) In my wildest dreams, 10 years from now I'll be making great money off of it - or even be a well known make up artist...

...a girl can dream!!

Oh man...I almost published this post without advertising myself!! HA.
Shop online with me! www.marykay.com/heatherblachly

We had an early morning splash party today. We were supposed to go to meet Aunt Tammy and Cousins Connor and Cayden at the baby pool, but my car broke and we had to redschedule! It went to the shop Sunday and Monday at closing time they said it wouldn't be ready until Tuesday sometime.

So we did what Joseph loves the most these days...turned on the sink and gave him a few water toys. juhy6y798i - Joseph just typed that and I thought it was too funny to erase it!

He stirred and stirred and stirred! He likes to watch the bubbles too. He says "bubbles" really well!

Believe me, I learned the hard way and now I keep a couple of big beach towels around the sink and the floor. Now usually all I have to change is a soaked shirt!

And of course, any pictures wouldn't be complete without a "cheeeese"!

These pictures aren't the greatest but I had to share anyway. They were taken with a camera phone so they have that grainy look to them. Joseph was flopping around the bed the other morning when we were trying to make it. Josh ended up making him into the pillows and Joseph thought it was the coolest!

We're starting to get the "cheese" face when we snap pictures these days. It's pretty cute, but a nice, plain, sweet smile would be good too. At least his eyes are open...usually he says "cheeeeese" and squeezes his eyes shut!

Oh wait, there are the shut eyes. Oh well. Can't win em all. He thought his little pillow fort was just the place to hang out for a bit, which was amazing since he is always on the go.

He even had time for a little thumb suck real quick! Soon after the pillows were thrown up in a fort explosion and he busted out!

Remember that new chair I told you about the other day?

That super cool little chair can get you to the super cool "peoor" (computer). Since then he's started pushing over the kitchen chairs (after all, they're much taller and don't collapse) without hesitation and full of gusto from the table to the sink, cabinet, computer, coffee pot, microwave...whether you're looking or not. We sorta have a situation on our hands now.

Josh took off Wednesday and Thursday from work, and the office was closed on Friday, so he got a whopper of a long weekend. We decided to head to the Dallas World Aquarium on Thursday and we had so much fun! The whole facility is so lush and beautiful just like the jungle. I can't imagine how many species of plants and animals are there under one roof.

This huge octopus was so mesmerizing! He moved back and forth across the aquarium and was so interesting to watch. Joseph didn't care much for it, but Josh and I did. Look at how beautiful his aquarium is. There were starfish everywhere.



Here is the waterfall where Josh and I saw each other for the first time on our wedding day. We chose to take some special time right before the ceremony instead of seeing each other for the first time in front of the crowd of our wedding guests. We also took photos with the wedding party in this spot. It was really fun seeing the DWA for the first time after our wedding day.

Joseph learned how to roar like a crocodile while we were there. These guys were so cool laying around their swamp!


Check out this fish! His eyes were completely reflective like a mirror. They had a weird shine to them like when you catch a cat's eyes with a camera flash in a photo. They had so many neat fish there.

There were only a few penguins out this day, but boy were they cute! Joseph really like checking them out. About two seconds after this picture was taken two day camp field trips came trampling in and crowded us out.


Then Joseph learned how to say lizard. I wanted to get this guy's tail in the picture; it was long and curled just perfectly at the end. We had to keep moving cause those kids were coming...run!!!



God, these monkeys were cute!! There was also a Howler Monkey who was really showing off flipping around branches and came right up to the fence to visit us.


This bird was behind a net but there were other birds flying around the whole time. There were several near misses!

We got done just in time to head home for Joseph's nap. It was such a fun day! I can't wait to go back again!

18 Month Stats!

Weight: 24lbs, 3 oz, 25 %
Height: 32.4 in, 50%
Head Circ: 18.6in, 48%

I was really interested in getting his head circumference this time around because lately his head has been getting stuck in his shirts. But looks like it's average, so no big whoop.

This was our first visit without Daddy. He really likes to join us in Joseph's big checkups but the appointment time didn't mesh with work. That morning we were on track for being on time, early even, and were just wandering around the house killing time so I decided to go ahead and get there early so Joseph would have time to play in the waiting room. We got there at 10:00 and our appointment was at 10:30. I checked in and about 10 minutes later the nurse came to take us back...I thought the Dr. must be running early and I was glad that we got there early too! Unfortunately, the Dr. was running on time so our appt still stood at 10:30. We got to sit in the boring, small examination room (and naked) for 20 minutes instead of getting to play like I had planned! Twenty minutes is a long time with an 18 month old with no toys and who wants to go "side" (outside) really bad. I was ticked! I even told the receptionist when we checked in that we came early to play. Lesson learned! Next time I won't plan to get there any earlier than I have to!

Joseph was checked out and given the Dr.'s seal of approval as expected. We didn't have too many question or concerns this checkup. The Dr. seemed impressed with his vocabulary and that he can say two word's together - like "Mommy's tea", "bye-bye peepee", "water please" and my new favorite that we're working on "love you"! Said he's ahead of the game, but his other little friends seem to be on the same track so I figure it's normal.

And the best news of all...he only had to get ONE shot!! Hooray! He'll only get one shot next time also. He only cried for a minute and was ok like always - more interested in the band-aid than the after pain of the shot. I think he has a pretty high pain tolerance. Like he falls all the time, or bangs his head - normal boy stuff - and rarely gets upset. He took a big rolling tumble off the bed this morning, landed on his head and hardly flinched! It probably helped that Josh laughed and yelled "Ta-daaaa!"

Thank goodness our only visits to the Dr. have been for wellness checkups, and hopefully the next time we have to go in will be for his flu shot/2 year visit. The Dr. said they didn't have any cases of swine flu come through. Hope that stuff gets sorted out before next flu season. We gotta keep our baby healthy as can be!