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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

a WHOLE bunch of random. & a thought...

* I am in complete & utter shock that a year has passed since we visited the pumpkin patch.
Claire was just about 7 weeks old when we went last year.


Check out the difference. Sorry for the shitty quality of the photos.
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She has a BLAST at the pumpkin patch on Friday. They had goats this year. She was OBSESSED. So cute. She kept saying "hi!" To the goats, and they couldn't care less about her. Sweet girl.
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*Claire is 13.5 months old. And more fun & crazy than ever. Period. She is crawling at a lightening speed, into everything & all over the place. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.


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*She has completed all of her first set of "goals" in Early Intervention!! Her therapist & I are so proud of her. We made a set of new goals, which include cruising along furniture &... WALKING! Eee!!


*She does headstands now. See below.


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*I am still pumping. 2x a day. Morning and night. As my ignorant co-worker would say "You're like addicted to burning calories". Riggght. That's EXACLY why I do what I do. Bitch. ha.


*Rather than blogging lately, I have been turning to crafting & baking as my therapy outlet. It's an amazing thing. Wine + crafting after a long day= blisssss. I have consumed more pumpking chocolate chip loaf in the past 2 weeks than I would care to admit. 


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*I can't WAIT to carve the pumpkins we bought & roast the seeds. FAVORITE part of this season!


*I bought  my first pair of TOMS a couple of weeks ago, a half size smaller than I wear in other shoes, since the sales woman said they stretch a lot..... I am STILL waiting for them to stretch out. Owwww. 


*I think Claire is a vegetarian. She WILL not eat meat. Any meat that I cut up for her, she immediately veto's it. I don't get it. 


*Speaking of meat, I love this time of year, specifically for SOUP season. I make the best/yummiest/fattiest  chicken noodle soup, thanks to this momma. I have been following her blog since before I started my own, and she posted this recipe forever ago. I've been hooked ever since. SO DAMN GOOD.


*I have a ton I want to blog about. But there are two big reasons I haven't: 1) I'm busy being a mom, wife & employee & 2) People I know in real life read this blog. And I want to write about things that are going on in my life that may offend said people. Which takes me to my next bullet...


* I think I may make my blog private. I know, I know, SO BORING, right?! Who goes private after this long?! I'm just toying with the idea. I just want to be able to write/word vomit whatever the HELL I WANT without people I actually KNOW reading about it. I hardly blog anymore anyway, so do I even have that big of an audience?! Doubtful .I am just so full of all kinds of emotions, that I think this may be the best option. I'm sick of trying to be all full of rainbows & unicorn shit when I blog these days. I feel so fake.YES, I have an absolutely AMAZING life/family, don't get me wrong. There are so, so many things in my life that are GREAT. but I want to be raw & real without being judged by those that truly know me, and be able to share with my e-friends at the same time. I want the best of both worlds :) 


I want to be real. I have not been real here in a while, and that's so not me.
But trust me, if I do go private, I will be sure to let you know. I am fairly certain I've already made the decision, but I will sleep on it a little while longer.


Hope you're all having a great week!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Canvas4Life {A Review}

I am & have always LOVED canvas prints. I think they are a very classy, simple way to add to a room while having a little piece of your family/loved ones present.


My mom has a big ole' canvas in her house from our wedding & I have wanted to get one of Claire just like it for OUR house. So, when Michael from Canvas4Life contacted me about doing a review on one of their products, I jumped at the chance. Of course.


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Canvas4Life is an online canvas printing retailer. They specialize in printing special pieces for you. And? It is SO incredibly easy & reasonable. There are 3 steps to completing your order and that's it. You're done. And I'm all about easy, simple & reasonable.


The best part? It didn't take long at all. {least patient person on the planet} I got my order in less than a week from placing it. But that doesn't take away from the quality of their product. 


The canvas itself if very well made. I really was/am so impressed!! Of course it is best to use a high resolution picture when having something like this printed, or it won't turn out that great-but, this turned out beautifully! The folds of the canvas are so precise & not bulky like some can be. 


I'm love, you guys. 


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Visit their website, familiarize yourself with it & order one yourself! Canvas4Life agreed to give my readers 10% off of your order. Just use the code "babydmakes3" at the checkout.


Thank you, Canvas4Life for allowing me to review such an awesome company & amazing product!!

Required Disclaimer: As a part of doing this review, I was provided with a 16 x 20 canvas free of charge.

Friday, September 23, 2011

You know what's REALLY weird?

Getting your period for the first time after 22 months & remembering where you keep your tampons.
Oh ya. YOU DON'T HAVE ANY. oops.

I haven't had "it"since November, 2009. The last cycle before I got pregnant. How weird is that?!
  I so didn't miss it.

Welcome back, old friend. Notttt.

Aren't you glad you opened this post? ;)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

MY, oh MY!

We have some big news to report...

no, i'm not pregnant. sillies.

claire is CRAWLING.

Yep. Full on movin' all over the place.

if you're new here, you're probably thinking "uuhh, she's a year old. shouldn't she be close to walking by now?"  ya. She's ONLY crawling..... nothing is wrong with her. promise.

Last Monday, I was sitting in her room while she played. I look up & she's on all four's rocking back & forth & before you know it, she took a couple of little crawls!! I silently squealed while Tweeting "SHE JUST CRAWLED". Then? She didn't do it for the rest of the day, so I thought for sure it was a fluke & hubbs thought I was making up stories :)

But sure enough, the days passed & she got more and more confident & faster. & I am now growing grey hair ;)

I fully attribute this progress to the Early Intervention program. I am SO beyond thankful & impressed at how well Claire has taken to her therapist & excersises.

She's also sitting up on her own from laying down. Something she wasn't doing a few weeks ago. We JUST lowered her mattress because she is able to kneel up to he rails now. This is also, HUGE progress.

I just love walking into her room in the morning and seeing this sweet face sitting up all by herself.

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Here's the proof: sorry about the absolutely awful quality. Filmed on my iPhone. also? she's crawling towards music playing on hubbs' iPad. Kids these days & their technology. ha.

Now, I'm off to "baby" proof this house. I've been waiting so long to say that.
Claire, you rock, little girl.

Happy Tuesday :)

Monday, September 12, 2011

{As Promised} The Party Deets.

The Party was held at our home last Sunday, September 4th, and it was awesome.

It was the first time I had ever put on a party since moving to this house a year ago. I honestly had a blast planning everything, but I'm very relieved it is over with. Shit is stressful! I told myself I wouldn't go all out for this, but I ended up going overboard {to my standards! I am SO not a party planner!} & I am glad I did. Even though she won't remember it, I have pictures & memories for a lifetime!

The theme was "Our Little Sunshine" & I incorporated yellows, light pinks & white in the decor.

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When I first started thinking about themes a while back, I was absolutely inspired by this awesome 1st birthday party thrown by one of my favorite blog momma's &even though I don't "know" her, I felt inclined to ask her permission to go off of her idea. She said yes :) THANKS, KATIE!

I also got A LOT of inspiration here.

All of the cutouts {except for the pennant banners, which I made} you see are from Love the Day Designs. Lindi was so great. I just ordered & paid for the pdf file, she e-mailed it to me & I printed them off & cut everything out.

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Food: We went pretty casual & served lunch
Turkey, ham, cheese{s} & rolls for sammiches
My mom's famous salad {I'll post the recipe sometime. Foodgasmic.}
Homemade mac' n' cheese {ya. I cooked. pick up your jaws from the ground}
Chips/dip

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Drinks:
Mellow Yellow {I had to be cheesy with the theme}
Chick-fil-a Iced Tea Lemonade {mmmm}
Water
Beer
Chardonnay {duh}
Mimosas {were a total hit, since the party was held at noon :)}

Dessert:
Local Bakery cupcakes. YUMMM!
Gooey butter cookies. Sister made those. OMG. To die for.

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Party Favors:
"1" Sugar cookies from Local Bakery wrapped in cellophane bags w/ribbon.
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Sunflower Smash Cake:
White cake made by my amazing little sister.

Party Attire: {pre-smash cake}
Light Pink, yellow & white dress from Target {$6} that I randomly bought when I was 18wks pregnant. How perfect!  She wore a party hat while opening gifts, but that stayed on all of 5 minutes.

Also, these tiny pink ballet flats, that we picked up at a little boutique a few weeks ago.

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Everything went so smoothly! Claire woke up from her morning nap right as the guests were arriving, so she was in a great mood. She totally knew the party was for her. Such a little diva ;)

The Guests helped themselves to drinks and we had a slide show of C's first year playing on our t.v. in the background for people to watch while Momma & I were putting the finishing touches on lunch.
{I would put it on here, but it's 20 minutes long, ha!}.

We did the normal party routine: ate, & socialized, did gifts and THEN, it was time for the Smash Cake.

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Oh, the Smash Cake. We sang Happy Birthday while Claire just stared at all of us, then I presented her with the cake. I was TOTALLY convinced she would have nothing to do with it. Boy, was I wrong. Good thing I stripped her down to her dipe beforehand! She was ALL OVER IT.

Promptly following the cake, the guest of honor was escorted up to the bathtub to get cleaned up & to take a nap. She was beat from all of the festivities. She didn't even get to say goodbye to most of the guests!

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Following her nap? A post Birthday Party photo shoot. After everyone was gone. We found out that day that she LOVES balloons. So cute.

See the picture of the three of us? That is only the second picture we have EVER taken as a family. And? the angle absolutely sucks. Boo, hiss.


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And then we tried out our new toys while momma finally got to sit down. and eat.
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All in all, it was a fabulous day. Next time, maybe I won't put so much time into the decorations. I don't know why I expected people to actually notice them. I mean, I practically got arthritis from cutting out everything & NO ONE EVEN APPRECIATED THEM. HAHA!

Hopefully you enjoyed the Party re-cap ;)

Also, check out my AMAZING sponsor's website. She's CONSTANTLY adding the most adorable things!! 

Friday, September 9, 2011

Back by popular demand :)

So, since so many from Twitter wanted me to update, I figured I'd get my lazy ass on my laptop & do it. 

Hehe.

So here's what's up:

*Claire is ONE. 12 months. Over 365 days old. {wearing 6mo pants, 9mo tops, 12 mo jams} Ha!

*Still going strong with the E.I. {Early Intervention}. She's making SO much progress! SHE PULLED UP TO STANDING ON HER OWN THE OTHER NIGHT! AND, she's actually getting into the crawl position on a regular basis. HUGE PROGRESS. You may think this is nothing for a 1 year old, but for her, it's big! 

*We have her 12mo check up on monday. No clue how much she weighs or how long she is. 

*Since she's 1 now, she thinks it's ok to throw temper tantrums and refuse fruits & veggies & eat only crackers, cheese & bread.

*Speaking of Claire, she has had *the* nastiest diapers lately. Teething? The cow's milk? Whatever it is, it's naaaasttyyyy. 

*We are one day THREE of no bottle!  She's drinking a mix of breast milk & cow's milk out of sippys now. YAY! It was a hell of a lot easier to cut the bottle than I thought it'd be.  

*Fall is just around the corner, and I am SO not ready for it. I normally crave the autumn weather, scents &  comfort food, but this year? I'm not. I honestly think it's because I was in such a hard place this time last year {dealing with the post partum}, that I want summer to stay forever. 

*Her birthday party was this past Sunday. And, it was AMAZING. Just how I thought it would be! But one thing I learned? I much prefer being a guest over being a hostess. That shit is stressful. Also? My kitchen isn't big enough for 20+ people. You know, since that's where everyone hangs out ;)

*I've been suffering from a weird stomach thing since Saturday. NO, I'm NOT pregnant. 
 I haven't really been able to drink or eat anything for 4 days. EVERY TIME I take a bite of anything, I feel like I'm going to explode. I am SO hungry, but can't eat. I had blood work & an ultrasound done yesterday, so I'm hoping I get some answers today. I wouldn't be surprised it's ulcers. I have been SO stressed about everything lately. Don't ask why. Just very high strung. 

*I'm so over my blog design. It's super outdated & boring. But? I don't have the time or money to make it cute. So, I guess I'll deal with it.

*I *will* have a Birthday Party Post up by Monday. Swear. Hold me to it. Plenty of pictures for all.


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Looking back. {One Year Later}


Claire Lula,

My little angel.
My Lu.
My buddy.
My girl.
My daughter.

Where has this past year gone?

It was only yesterday that I was waddling walking around our new neighborhood at 39w3d pregnant trying to get you to move out of my belly. I wanted to meet you, baby. Daddy & I couldn't wait.

My water broke at 12:10am that same night. 

You wanted to meet us, too!

16 hours of labor & 1 c-section later, you were here.

4:01 pm, August 30th 2010- our lives were forever changed.

I can't even tell you how stunned I am at how quickly this year has passed us by. So many emotions run through my head thinking about everything we've been through together.
Great. Good. Bad. Ugly. High. Low. You name it-we've been through it. 

And, I wouldn't change a second of it for anything.

Happy First Birthday, Lu.

I love you my sweet, sweet baby girl.

No matter how old you get, you'll ALWAYS be my baby.

Love, Your Momma.














A year later...
taken yesterday.
August 29, 2011

::wipes tears from keyboard:: Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a ONE year old to go cuddle & love on.


{If you want to re-live this awesome day with us, go read The Birth Story}

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

My baby is turning 1, you say?

Photos by Mrs. F

I still can't believe I am telling people, "she will be one next week", when they ask how old she is.


There just aren't words to describe my shock in how quickly this year went. Denial is the way I've been dealing with it.

But you know that.

Lately, the past 4 days, I have been planning Claire's first birthday party. Those of you that know me, know that I am a procrastinator in every sense of the word. Hell, I am the epitome of Procrastination.

So, me having Claire's party planned more than a week in advance?  Unheard of.

 And the fact that I've been CRAFTING?? History itself has been made!

totally made this cupcake stand.

I am no party planner. Let's face it, I'm no planner. Period. 

I've had ideas. I've had lots of thoughts. But had I planned anything prior to last Thursday? Hell no.

Her party is in a week & a half.

I have the invites done (I said done. not mailed), the decor done(ish), and the desserts planned. 

"decor"


My sister is baking. My mom is cooking. & me? I'll supply the drinks. Wine/beer/mimosas, anyone?

Cheers!


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thursday Randoms

Since I royally suck at composing posts lately, I'm going to just put a bunch of random thoughts/updates all into one!

* Claire is going to be 1 in less than 2 weeks. Can someone please explain to me where the last year went? I've been all sorts of nostalgic as of late, with "this time last year" comments every other day

*Speaking of the girl, she still isn't mobile. But we are making progress in the Early Intervention. Her therapist is awesome & is teaching me great exercises to do with her. She actually bears weight on her arms while on her stomach now. I have no doubt she will catch on quickly.

* I am still pumping. I figured I've made it this far, why not go 'til the river runs dry? Unfortunately, my body is all sorts of confused. First I take Sudafed to dry up, now I'm popping fenugreek every 2 hours. Sadly, I'm not getting nearly as much milk as I had before, but I'm getting enough to satisfy Claire.

*In preparation for her turning ONE, we've cut out 2 bottles during the day. She now only has her morning & evening bottle & drinking from the greatest transition sippy cup EVAR in between, thanks to this lady for the suggestion.
             
*Party planning is well underway. & I have no choice but to be creative & frugal. Would you expect anything less from me? HAHA!
*The party is set for September 4th. I was originally going to have it August 27th, but, your's truly couldn't get her act together & plan a party in a week & a half. I am the epitome of procrastination. 
A preview of what I've been up to:

*I took this picture Tuesday afternoon. 
Doesn't she look like she's 3?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY?!

*Speaking of being frugal, while I was nosing around Target last week, I stumbled upon E.L.F {eyes. lips. face} brand make-up. Everything is less than $4.00. So, I picked up a liquid eye-liner pen & some rosy lip gloss. 2 things that I have been needing, but not wanting to spend the $$. Both things cost me $4.00. FOR BOTH OF THEM. 
I would totally recommend!!

*Last Thursday night, Hubs & I did something we have never done before. We put Lu to bed, packed up the car, had my momma stay at our house & we went to St. George/Vegas for the weekend {spent one night in Vegas & 2 nights in St. George}. It was fun. But holy cow. I didn't know I could ever miss Claire as much as I did. By the second day, I was totally ready to be home.

This was taken at the Paris Hotel. We went & saw a hypnotist. No, we didn't participate. It was HILARIOUS, but I'm still trying to figure out how that shit is NOT fake. 

*Since July, I've been working from home for my dad about 30hrs a week. SUCH a blessing. Granted, it's difficult at times with Claire, but I couldn't ask for a better set up. Yesterday, she was very whiny after her nap, so we passed some time with good ol' Photobooth.

Err, at least she looks cute!
 Oops! She found her clip!
 Look what I have, ma'

Well, that's all I got. 
Hope your Thursday is off to a great start!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

3 Years Ago...

On 8-8-08, I walked down this aisle.

 Married the perfect man for me.

 And began our {young} life together.


 & yes, we totally had a "secret dance"



 Last year, for our 2nd anniversary, we visited the place where it all began. & I was a big, 37 week pregnant girl. WITH pregnant face & all.

My, what a difference 3 years makes.

Today, I am not only married to the man of my dreams, but we have a beautiful {ALMOST 1 YEAR OLD} baby girl to add to the fun.
a little sneak to her 1 year pics
I love my life.