Happy Halloween.

October 31, 2010

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Happy Halloween!


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LETTERS TO LIA | 10 MONTHS

October 29, 2010

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I have a 10 month old. In two months, I will have a one year old.
Let's say it again...
I have a 10 month old. In two months, I will have a one year old.

Nope...I still can't grasp that.

This morning, I went to get L-bug out of her crib. She, of course, was waiting for me with her famous smile. As I picked her up and turned to walk out, I caught our reflection in the mirror and I realized my small baby isn't so small anymore. She's pretty darn big for how she started. I know she is supposed to grow, but I was still seeing her as my little babe. It gives me mixed emotions. Of course, I am thrilled and oh so proud of this amazing girl that I've helped to make and raise. But, her baby-hood days are almost gone.

My own point was just proven. I left L by the coffee table with her new walking toy so she could play with the blocks that are inside it. She has yet to "walk" with this toy and I turned around and she made her way all the way to the desk. A small feat, you may think, but it's something to cheer about in our home!

Little babe,
My, how you are growing! I've had the honor of being with you every day since you were born. Nothing has made me happier than being able to do that. You have changed SO much lately. You are growing and learning new things and nothing stops you! You are such a happy baby, you always have a cheesy grin to give to me or daddy. We LOVE your cheesy grins...never lose 'em. You love your Toby. It probably drives him a little nuts, but you love to pet (ie. more like tap) him and you really get excited when you hear him coming into the room you are in. You are an excellent eater and still love your water. And, you still give high-fives (when you want, that is!).

But here is what's new...
-You've learned how to give kisses, in Spanish and English! When we ask you for a kiss, you lean in with your mouth wide open. It's a little slobbery sometimes, but we love that you give us kisses!
-You are eating so many solid foods and you love them! Mac & cheese, pasta, bananas, peaches, apples, berries, cheerios, rice, and beans are some of your favorites. You are messy, but pretty good at feeding yourself! We gave you juice for the 1st time this week. You seemed to like it, but you didn't go crazy-happy about it.
-We finally found you a pair of sneakers that were cute and fit you great. Since we've let you wear them, you can stand up on your own much better than before and you almost took your first steps this week. You aren't so sure you are ready, but I think you will be ready soon!
-You cruise along everything, are learning how doors work and will open cabinets and empty out every box/basket in the house.
-You have 3 teeth now. 2 bottom teeth and 1 on top. It looks like your 4th tooth may be getting ready to break through as well.
-Teething has made you especially cranky this past week or two. For a few days, you been taking 2 naps a day. We'll see how long that lasts. You won't even take your teething rings for longer than a minute or so and you make it so hard to put orajel on your teeth that mommy has resorted to the occasional ice pop to soothe your gums and calm you down.
-You love to play with blocks and knock them down.
-You babble all the time. You can say mama (mamamama is how it sounds) and I'm not sure you relate to word to me or not. You seem to say it when you are pulling up on me or want me to hold you so I think you are learning it.
-You love to make messes.

You are:
-Wearing mostly 12-18 month clothing.
-Still wearing a size 3 diaper.
-I am guessing you weigh around 22 lbs and you've probably grown at least a 1/2 inch.
-On a great schedule now. Besides the extra naps this past week, you have about four 6 oz bottles and 2 meals plus a snack throughout the day and a 1-2 hour nap around 12 everyday. It's great that you have finally learned that the crib means sleep and you rarely give us a hard time when we put you down in your crib.

I am plan to enjoy every last second of your baby-hood. I can't wait to see all the new things you will learn and do. Keep growing beautifully, babe. I love you!

XOXO,
Mommy




When you have a 3-toothed crawling monster like me, these are the kinds of photos you get!
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Swoon-worthy.

October 26, 2010

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Okay, seriously? I want L to own each and every one of these sets. At an age where she won't shove 'em in her mouth and choke.

Vintage Fisher Price toys found here.



I had both of these sets. Plus, a few extras from some others. I remember that I LOVED these toys. I would stay in my room for hours playing with these. My mom was keeping them for whenever I had kids and I don't know if she still has them or not. A lot of my things were in the shed when it caught fire a while back. Hopefully, one day, L will have her own set!
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101 IN 1001

October 25, 2010

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Ah, lists. I love lists. No...I lurve them. As I defined "lurve" to my husband this weekend after texting that "I lurve him", it means you love something so much that the word love doesn't quite cover it. I make lists for everything. Grocery lists, to-do lists, DIY to-do lists, meal plans, cleaning schedules, weekly plans. I'm probably a bit too into it, but hey, I think thats okay. A list just helps me do what I want/need to do. I have a horrible memory. I mostly forget little, everyday things. A strangers name 5 seconds after they just told me their name. Something I was supposed to buy during the a shopping trip. Taking medications. A toothbrush or hairdryer while packing for vacation. So, a list helps me keep it all together.

I'm good at saying I want to do this or try that or learn this and that, but ask M....I suck at actually taking action. Lately, I just haven't been happy with myself in not actually doing something about it. During what little downtime I have while L naps, I will usually do a little cleaning and picking up and making lists but otherwise, nothing very productive or for myself. I see tons of inspiration and things I'd like to learn to do or accomplish on the blogs I browse, but I never actually start my own tasks or projects.

That's going to change. I found 101 in 1001 while browsing blogs a few months back and I bookmarked it to remember it. Of course, I didn't remembering and start until now but it's better than never!

101 in 1001 is simple. Make a list (!) of 101 things you would like to do in 1001 days. Mine list is simple. It's me. It's filled with things I love and things I would love to learn and make. I'm really excited about making this list and being able to cross things off. Crossing things off is another thing I lurve...

If this motivates you or you are already doing your own list similar to this, I'd love to hear about it!

101 in 1001.
Start date - October 22, 2010
Finish date - July 19, 2013

1. Learn to sew, knit, and/or crochet.
2. Get another professional photo session done of L. (10/21/2010)
3. Throw L a beautiful, fun first birthday party.
4. Plant a garden. Or, at least an herb garden!
5. Perfect my homemade brownie recipe.
6. Establish a date night with M once a month.
7. Lose 50 pounds.
8. Organize photos in albums.
9. Make Lia's first Halloween costume. (10/23/2010)
10. Make a chocolate soufle.
11. Start learning spanish...again.
12. Throw a Halloween party.
13. Perfect my chocolate chip cookie recipe.
14. Go on a trip with my loves (visiting relatives doesn't count!)
15. Buy a professional camera.
16. Learn all about photography.
17. Take a picture of L at least once a week
18. Print and frame more photos.
19. Teach Lia to walk.
20. Buy a house (HUGE dream that I hope one day is possible!)
21. Bake something and drop it off at a friend or neighbors house.
22. Do something kind to a stranger.
23. Participate in Operation Beautiful.
24. Take L and Toby on daily walks.
25. Organize recipes.
26. Visit a new state.
27. Add artwork to our home.
28. Host Thanksgiving for our families.
29. Get a library card.
30. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
31. Watch "A Christmas Story" with L. It's my favorite christmas movie and I want to share the tradition with her.
32. Start L's scrapbook.
33. Take a friend out to lunch.
34. Take L to a Gymboree class.
35. Learn how to make salsa and guacamole.
36. Buy produce at a farmer's market.
37. Take an excersice class.
38. Have another baby.
39. Take a cooking/baking class.
40. Build a snowman.
41. See a broadway play.
42. Decorate L's room.
43. DIY a mirror chalkboard.
44. Call my brother + sisters more.
45. And send them pictures. Mom and dad too.
46. See T.Swift in concert...again!
47. DIY the "dumpster" chair.
48. Ride a roller coaster.
49. Go strawberrry picking.
50. Buy + hang shelves in dining room.
51. Mail a postcard.
52. Carve a pumpkin. (10/23/2010)
53. Dejunk the house and have a yard sale.
54. Donate unneeded items to a good cause.
55. Make (tasty!) spaghetti sauce from scratch.
56. Find a good meatball recipe.
57. Go to a drive-in theatre.
58. Try two new restaurants.
59. Take L to ride on Nunley's Carousel.
60. Restart The 30-day Shred.
61. Take L trick-or-treating.
62. Have L's pictures taken in her Halloween costume.
63. And her birthday outfit.
64. Let M have a "him" day, he can do as he pleases and I won't nag him.
65. Have a girl's day with L, including lunch and pedicures!
66. Make L a tutu.
67. Make a wreath for the front door.
68. Sew fabric pumpkins.
69. Be more confident!
70. Get a mani/pedi.
71. Organize our hall closests.
72. Have friends over for dinner and a board game.
73. Add a new boardgame to our collection.
74. Quit biting my nails.
75. Make a pinecone garland.
76. Buy L a wagon.
77. Bake a cake from scratch.
78. Plant a tree.
79. Blog daily for one month.
80. Go one whole day without complaining,
81. Live by (and believe!) the quote "Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out."
82. Buy a new dining room table (a BIG one).
83. Pay off our debt.
84. Teach myself photoshop.
85. Hang a windchime.
86. Take a bubblebath.
87. Whiten my teeth.
88. Own a stand mixer.
89. Take L to the circus.
90. Go to the Mum Fest.
91. Find a playdate for Lia.
92. Take family photos.
93. Start a new family tradition.
94. Buy a great trench coat.
95. Organize L's closests and dresser.
96. Make caramel apples.
97. Go to a fair.
98. Go to a museum.
99. Jump in a pile of leaves with Lia.
100. Plant flowers.
101. Start college courses, again.

You can find my list and follow my progress on the 101 IN 1001 tab (below my header).
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MAMARAZZI MONDAY

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L is going to be Minnie Mouse for her first Halloween! I had originally bought a fairy costume from The Children's Place but I really wanted to make her first costume so I decided to just put aside my fears of crafts and hot glue guns and do it. The dress, tights and shoes she already had in her closest. I bought her a black shirt from Target and using an awesome tutorial I made her minnie ears. Even though she didn't want to keep her ears on most of the day, she looked adorable at the zoo yesterday!

I am so excited for her very first Halloween this weekend. I'll be making minnie/mickey ears for myself + manny to wear along with her while we trick-or-treat on Sunday!


Are you part of the mamarazzi? Link up your post here!
Mamarazzi Monday
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Up, Up and Away!

October 20, 2010

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L is going to space! Okay okay, it's her picture. But still? It's pretty cool.


I stumbled across this at It's A Wonderful Life a few weeks ago and just remembered now. Random things I forget tend to pop into my head at the weirdest times...

But anyways! One of the last remaining space shuttle missions will be launching into space on November 1st and Lia's picture will be going with them. Once they return, I can print out a certificate. Pretty awesome for her baby book. You know, the one I started when she was a few months old and then never touched again? Yep, that one.

If you are like me and silly enough to think this rocks, here's the link!
And, if you are even more like me and you see this but put it off until your brain randomly reminds you, there will be two launches. November 1st and February 27th. Plenty of time to procrastinate!
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MAMARAZZI MONDAY

October 18, 2010

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This past weekend, we took L to her 1st pumpkin patch! I had a total photograph related mommy brain incident and forgot to take all the cute picture ideas I had thought of before. Maybe I was overwhelmed with how cute L looked sitting by herself in the wagon! Here are the few pictures I took. But, I have a few poses in mind we'll do at the house soon.

Being such a BIG girl!



She isn't so sure about this big orange thing!

She's checking them out...

We had a great time. We've been to this particular pumpkin patch every year we've lived here in New York. And, I was going to post of a picture of me with L in the belly at the pumpkin patch last year but I can't hunt it down anywhere!

But my point is that I CAN'T believe she is already so big. She's eleven days shy of being 10 months!!
I am enjoying every moment of her and I am thrilled that the holidays are right around the corner. I am so excited for everything to come!

Mamarazzi Monday
Link up your post over here.
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Thankful On A Thursday.

October 14, 2010

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I'm sitting here, in my chaotic living room full of toys and mess, thinking of this post. It's a crisp day and the sun is finally starting to shine through my back door. That, in itself, is a little pick-me-up. Despite the odd beginning of this week, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have alot to look forward to. Despite my lack of motivation and a teething baby, I'm happy for this moment. I'm getting my motivation mojo back and the house is starting to thank me for it! And that teething babe of mine? Well, she finally wants to cuddle with her momma. So, while I am not thrilled with the teething process, what with the pain it brings L and all, but I am thankful that it brought a momma and her baby girl that much closer.

Now, it's time to tidy up the kitchen and rock out to Taylor Swift. Did you know her newest album "Speak Now" is coming out in eleven days?! Well, now you do.

So, other than that, here's what I am thankful for. What are you thankful for?


I am thankful for...

1. Goodwill finds.
2. The smell of a vanilla cupcake candle wafting through the house.
3. Three-day weekends with my loves.
4. Homemade apple-cider donuts.
5. A fun-filled day at the zoo.
6. Moments that bring me closer to my hubby.
7. Recieving magazines in the mail.
8. M going dress shopping with me.
9. Big belly laughs from L.
10. The colors of leaves changing.
11. Cranking up the music and singing along.
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BOO AT THE ZOO

October 10, 2010

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We're right in the middle of a 3-day weekend and I am loving it! After M being away for a week, this is exactly what we needed. Since L is playing with her toys and M is playing a video game, I thought post some of the pictures from our trip yesterday!

We headed out to the Bronx Zoo. The zoo is all decked out for Fall/Halloween and it just makes me love the zoo even more. Kids were running around in costumes, they had a hay maze, an extinct animal graveyard, costume parades, krafts for the kids and plenty more! We'll be taking L again, closer to Halloween so she can wear her costume.

This was L's 4th trip to the zoo this year. We have passes, of course! I love seeing how much more she's enjoying it as she gets older. She actually noticed some of the animals and there was a short staring contest with a bird. You know that L won! She rode the bug carousel again and this time she LOVED it. She was kicking her legs and looking all around. I just wish I could have gotten better pictures of it. It's not so easy taking clear pictures while you are standing on a moving platform trying to catch a moving object go up and down.

Here are some of the pictures we got...

Aren't her boots the cutest? I scored them at Goodwill for $2.99! Of course, we nearly lost them for good yesterday...

When we tell L to say "cheese" for us, this is the face she gives!


Mommy and baby snuggles!


Kicking off your shoes means you go barefoot the rest of the day.







Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!
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Thankful On A Thursday - My First Week.

October 7, 2010

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I came across The Outdoor Wife's blog and she does this really cool thing called "Thankful on a Thursday". I've decided to join in on the fun! Thursdays are my blah day. They aren't quite the weekend, I have to leave my baby for 5ish hours to go to work and this week it means there is still another whole day after today before I see my hubby again.

Why not talk about what I am thankful for instead of dwelling on the not-so-good things?



This week I am thankful for...

1. Smiles from L. There is nothing better than looking over and seeing her smile at me.
2. An amazing husband who goes out of his way every day to make our lives better.
3. Family and friends who come to keep me entertained while M is away for work.
4. Cool, breezy Fall days.
5. The quote "Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out."
6. Clean laundry.
7. Hand-picked apples and the apple pies that go along with them.
8. Dr. Seuss books.
9. Boxes that L recieves from Aunt Shell.
10. Pumpkins on the porch steps and decorating for Halloween.
11. Getting L back into her nap routine. She went down today without a peep!
12. L and Toby getting along so nicely. She's petting him right now and he's just enjoying it.
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Pretty Stuff.

October 5, 2010

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I came across this etsy shop while I was blog hopping.

I love this.

And this.


And this. With the matching knife and spoon!



All photo credits go to the Twig etsy shop.


And, the price tag is just as pretty as the prints!

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Things Will Work Out.

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Yesterday was one of those days. The kind where nothing is wrong, yet everything is wrong. Bad naps, bad moods. It was a cool, gray, drizzling day. The day where it's blah, I'm blah and things just generally seem blah.

It was the ugly day that rears its head every now and then because how would we enjoy the good days if we didn't have a bad one sometimes?

Then, I heard the mail lady shuffling outside the door with a package. I vaguely remember my sister tell me she was sending L a package. So, I quietly rushed to the door. I say quietly because minutes before I had just got L to sleep on the sofa. It was, indeed, a package for L from her aunt shell!

I carried it into the living room, grabbing a knife from the kitchen on the way and cut it open. It was filled with shoes, toys and oh so many clothes. But you know what my favorite thing in that box was? The LOVE. I know just how much LOVE went into collecting all the beautiful things in it. I know just how much LOVE was packed into that box and then mailed all the way here from Germany. 


It was just what I needed. A little reminder that life is always going to give you a silver lining. Although, there are no promises that it will come at the exact time you want or be the exact thing you expect, it will come and it will be good.

Then, nestled between some clothes in the middle of the box, I found this...


And when I opened that tiny little box, I found this...


How sweet is it that L's adoring cousin (one of my handsome, loving nephews) wanted to send his money to her. Because that is how thoughtful and kind that he is. It brought a few tears to my eyes.

I came across this quote yesterday and combined with the box, it reminds me of how I should be living. There are alawys going to be bad days. There is always going to be something to stress out about. There is always going to be at least one big decision looming over your head to make at some point. And it is easy to freak out about things and settle into a moody funk. Or, you could say this to yourself and truly believe it.

Be believing, be happy, don't get discouraged. Things will work out.

And, even though I know sometimes I will let myself get into a bad mood and I will stress about things and I will get overwhelmed and tired and grumpy, I will at least make the effort to try and believe this.


So, I want to say thank you to my big sister for spoiling us with these boxes full of love and goodies. And, I want to say thank you to Bubba for having such a big heart. We love you guys so much and I only wish we could see each other more often!

L loved her presents!


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Mamarazzi Monday - Big Smiles

October 4, 2010

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Mamarazzi Monday
Link up your post @Household6Diva
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