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jordan.and.co

Wife, Mommy, Photographer...capturing the daily craziness that is our life. NJ>CA>TX
Collabs: jordanandco@yahoo.com

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I was swiping through stories a little while ago and saw this idea about painting nutcrackers. I thought it would be perfect for a little girls’ Christmas party I’m throwing next month and they seriously turned out better than I could’ve imagined! I immediately started DMing my creative friends on IG asking if it was their idea so I could give them proper credit but no one claimed the idea was theirs. Rewind to a few days ago when the fabulous @stephaniehannablog posted her precious nutcrackers & hilarious letterboard (for real, go check it out!) I messaged her right away saying, “It was YOU!!” 😂 So, here’s my take on Steph’s adorable painted Nutcracker craft. (Thanks for the inspo, girl!) Swipe for my paint colors. Now, brb, I need to go make 100 more...

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Oh, heyyy Christmas. We see you...right around the corner! (You like that one? 😜)
Ok, so I’m hosting a baby shower on Thursday night and then Friday morning it’s Christmas decor: GAME-ON! I said I’d wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating...but I can hold out no longer! I’m going to start upstairs and make the playroom a winter wonderland! Eeek! I think doing the kids’ spaces is my favorite part!

Speaking of which, will someone shoot me a DM on Thursday & remind me to take a “before” picture of the playroom? First, so I can show you a B&A but also so that I can remember where to put everything back come January! 🤪
Ok, tell me...Have you started decorating yet? From the looks of Instagram I am of the vast minority that has not started yet! But, I really can’t wait! Come onnnnn Friday!

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So last week I shared a little bit about the @beddysbeds on our playroom bunks and I’m still getting DMs about them, so I figured I’d answer some questions here:

YES! We really do love them. I wouldn’t buy or share them if we didn’t

We bought them for Quin’s twin beds in her old room. We loved them SO much, we knew we needed them for all of the bunks in the playroom at our new house

They make “making the bed” SO easy! Literally 2 zips!

It’s ONE piece that slips over your mattress like a fitted sheet. It functions as your bottom sheet, blanket, and comforter all-in-one

Think of it like a giant sleeping bag, only you can unzip the top completely if you want...or if you are like my kids, you can zip them all the way up to your chinny-chin-chin

They come in sizes toddler to king

We have the “Love at First White”set

AND....THE BEST PART: I have a code for you! Use JORDAN20 for 20% off!!! I think that’s it! If you have any other questions leave them below and I am happy to answer them for you!

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Happy Saturday from Ardyn Rae...whom I overheard saying “Well, my first name is Ardyn & my middle name is Cub.” 😂

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November’s not over until the book nook is up! 😜 In case you missed my stories yesterday, my Thanksgiving book picks for this year are on the blog & I’m absolutely in LOVE with the books I found this year! (Swipe to see) I swear, thanksgiving books are my second favorite genre of the ENTIRE year...right after Christmas! They’re just the kind of books that make you want to curl up by the fire, eat some yummy food, and be with the ones you love.

So, If you are needing 1-2 more Thanksgiving/Fall/Gratitude themed books, go check out the link in my bio, and while you’re there- you’ll also see what I know you REALLY want...my Christmas book picks. 😉
Happy Reading, friends!! (Swipe to see a pull back of our new book nook/piano space! I’m loving it so much!)

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Max told me yesterday that his teacher asked him why he had leaves in his diaper. 😂🤔

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*Portrait of a Sleeping Boy*

You guys- I’ve been in SUCH a slump ever since we got home from our trip. Honestly, the time zone/change thing totally kicked our butts and the extra load of “make up” school work, activities, and looming holiday to-do lists certainly didn’t help the transition much either. We are all so exhausted & sooo very ready for it to be Friday already.

In a totally unrelated note- I’ve gotten a few questions about Max being in a big boy bed. I’d say I would write a post about the transition but it all just kind of happened organically when we moved. We put him down for a nap in the bed the day we moved in (before we had the crib set up) & it went so well we just wound up tossing the crib altogether. He sleeps SO much better (& longer!) all sprawled out in his big bed...although it hurts my mama heart that I never got the chance to document his last night in a crib. 💔 If you have any questions leave them below & I’ll try to answer them!

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Ohhhh Ardyn Rae. You are as funny as you are kind, as silly as you are shy, and just as beautiful INSIDE as you are out...which is saying a lot! I love you my sweet rainbow babe.

You told us last night that you want to be “an island girl” and with your little free spirit, I truly believe you could be. Buuuut, we’d miss you too much in TX, so back to the mainland, with us, you go.
✌🏻out, HI. 🌺

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I was taking photos of the girls on the beach in their new dresses and as we were walking away, Ryan grabbed my camera and told me to “get in there”. I almost said no, but I stopped myself and jumped in. These are the only photos of me with the kids from this entire trip and I love them so much.

So here is your random reminder (and mine too) to GET IN THE SHOT. Even if you have unwashed hair from a day of whale watching on a boat, even if you don’t feel your best or think you look your best...your kids don’t care about any of that. They WILL care when they are adults, & they look back at memories and see you right there in the mix WITH them, dirty hair and all.

My dad was the photographer and videographer of our family, so he was always the one behind the camera. But, he always made a point to flip the camera around and take a silly (OG) “selfie” or set the video camera up on a tripod and jump in the frame for a quick wave. And those fleeting moments of film and those blurry photos of his smiling face are our most treasured memories now.

So get in that shot mamas (and daddies, too). You won’t regret it. I promise.

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Pretty sure it’s Thursday, not really sure what time it is back home or who is actually seeing this...but in *Breaking Happy News*...my boy is FINALLY FEELING BETTER!! Thank the Lord!

It’s been a BRUTAL few days. “Sick Max” is bad, but “Sick Max on Vacation” is a force to be reckoned with & I’m just SO glad to see him smiling (and sleeping!) again! 🙌🏻🌴 In other happy news...click this: #maxindaddysarms

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Well, we made it to the Land of Rainbows on a hope & a prayer (...and a whole lotta antibiotics). The sun may be shining & Cub may be in full recovery-mode but we still spent the day at urgent care trying to figure out why Max seems to be getting worse. “Sick on vacation” falls into the same category as “Mom getting sick”...aka, It just shouldn’t be allowed. amiright?😫

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“Listen well, all of you. The princess will indeed grow in grace and beauty. But before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, and fall into a death-like sleep...” -Maleficent
Ardyn asked to be Maleficent this year (but specifically YOUNG Maleficent from the movie— “when she was still a nice fairy”). Q and Max were happy to oblige as young Aurora & Prince Phillip...mostly because pretty dresses and M&Ms were involved. 😉

Happy Halloween everyone!

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Well, I got my car back...but since it’s raining and I couldn’t get into a car wash today to get that sucker detailed and purged of all the creepy “stranger-was-here” vibes, I Clorox’d the heck out of every wipeable surface & bought some air freshener for the first time in like ten years to rid my car of the pungent “eau de thief”.
And we are rolling👏🏻right👏🏻 along👏🏻... right on into November.
But first, I realized I only have two days left to get all the Halloween photos in.
Don’t mind if I do! Swipe to see my Mummy’s Boy over the past three years. 😫😢 Oh Max...slow it on down, boyfriend. (P.S. do they make these pjs in adult men’s? Bc I’m going to need Max to keep taking these forever & ever, amen.)

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Dear October,
Thank you, next.
I try to keep things light & airy on here but if I’m being honest- this month has been HARD...just stressful & kind of heavy. There was so much destruction to our city, so many sad memories of my dad’s final days, so many terrible fake black spiders everywhere (😂🙈), and then we capped it all off with my car, wallet & house keys all being stolen. It’s really just like the final straw over here & I’ve never been more ready to see a month go... so while everyone else is sad about the fact that Halloween is almost over, I’ll just be over here, stirring my peppermint mocha with a candy cane, waving November in with giant air traffic controller flares.
#givemethecandyandbeonyourway✌🏻

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I interrupt your Halloween festivities with some breaking news, meant only for those planners who like to know about deals in advance. 😜 One of our FAVORITE brands, @pinkchickenny just released their first ever Christmas jammies for baby, kids & mom! Since I know how much y’all love a matching Christmas pj, I just had to share before they’re gone! These Santa print jams are my absolute favorite and they are so cozy!These little gems just dropped TODAY, so hurry over to @pinkchickenny & snag some.
Ok, that’s all...resume your October. 💗❤️
#pinkchristmas #pinkchristmaspjs

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Aside from a few remarks to friends on Sunday afternoon about how weird the sky looked, we spent the weekend blissfully unaware that any “storm” was coming. (First pic)
It wasn’t until my sister called me Sunday night (just a few hours after leaving our house) concerned about the tornado alert she got on her phone, that things took a turn. She was home alone with the baby & scared that this was “the real deal”. Ryan & I turned on the news, saw that the radar placed an active tornado in our direct area, told Britt to take cover & then pulled our kids out of bed & into a safe room as well. As the storm picked up, my sister started sounding more distressed over the phone, saying her house alarm was going off, that she could hear windows breaking & doors slamming and that her ears were popping from the pressure- and then she lost power.
I’ll spare all the details that won’t fit here, but thanks to hours of persistence from my brother, Ryan & Brendan, the night ended with her whole family safe at our house, waiting out the passing of the second storm together until around 3:00am.
This morning we went to their house first thing to assess the damage (we had to park and walk in, as the entire neighborhood is blocked off) There were uniformed military roaming the streets, news crews stationed on the corner, power lines down, workers beginning to clear debris, and families just wandering around holding laundry baskets of clothes & belongings.
To say it’s been an emotional and surreal 24hours for my sister & her family (and so many others) would be putting it lightly. Their house is still standing & they are safe with us, but the damage around the metroplex is extensive & devastating.
Thank you all so much for reaching out, we are all safe & in the big scheme of things, very lucky. [Scroll for photos of my sister’s house, surrounding areas, and footage of the tornado (*not my images)]

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A few weeks ago we gifted my Father-in-Law a family video from @isbellfamilyfilms and a photo album from @chatbooks for his birthday...and they were such a hit! I’ve been asked several times since posting those stories if I think something like this would make a good gift for the holidays and my answer is: 1,000,000% YES! And if you want to get a head start...head to my stories for special, limited time coupon code! 👌🏻🙌🏻
Would you agree that sentimental gifts are best kinds of gifts?!

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Sooooo we hit up the grocery store for pumpkins & then went to this local flower nursery that had some cute Halloween decorations on display & I’m just really feeling like we’ve offered the children the full Fall experience they deserve. So, clearly we can skip the pumpkin patch this year. Right?! 😬 #overit

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