Tomorrow She is One

One year ago today, I was five days past my due date...swollen and achy. John and I were so so anxious to know what we were having and felt like we just couldn't wait any longer. By this time I had just given up on trying to walk the baby out, none of these old wives tales were working....or were they?

I gave myself a manicure& pedicure (with the help of John- thanks honey!), and went to bed my normal huge self, heartburn and all! 

I was determined to have nice nails when I was in the hospital...because I cared about that sort of thing, haha! 

About 4 am that night/morning I woke up for my 1,000th time to use the restroom, only to discover I had "sprung a leak"!!! 

It was time :) Time to meet our little angel. Time to leave the house as two, and come home as three.

Dear Carly: 

What a year it has been my sweet girl...so many firsts, so many smiles :) 

As our day came to an end tonight, while I was rocking you to sleep on your 364th day....I teared up. Not because I was sad, but because it is amazing how blessed your Daddy and I have been to have you in our lives for a whole year. You have your good days and your bad, your many, many happy moments...and some not so happy ones, but not a single minute ever goes by that we don't love you more and more. You are our little peanut, our little bun-bun, our Carly Button. We love you sweetie, more today than yesterday, but not as much as we will tomorrow!

Tonight you fell asleep 11months, 31 days loved...

...and tomorrow you will wake up ONE whole year loved! 

Love,

Mama & Dada

Summer Fun!

Yes, I know it's been a month since my last post...and I don't really have much of an excuse unfortunately. Being a mom and life coordinator for a family definitely keeps me busy! But that's not a complaint, just a reason :) Of course that doesn't mean it's all rainbows and smiles, any mom knows that, but lets just focus on the point here- I finally have a quick moment to blog! When I set out to start this blog I made a promise (sort of..) to blog once a week. I need to hold to that, not only because I like to think you all really want to see what's going every week, but also for me. This blog can be my escape when I need it, my moment of silence amongst the tantrums, and the journal to document the life that seems to be flying by! 

So far, our summer has been full of fun! I say so far because the weather here lends us another month or so of warm weather :) So much has happened in the last month, that this post would be a novel if I touched on each week, so here are some quick highlights worth sharing:

We repainted an old playhouse we got from a neighbor for Carly! Complete with a porch light (old Malibu light from the yard). 

Someone is officially a big girl in her new carseat! We purchased the Britax Boulevard 70-G3 and love it!

I've attempted some smoothie ice pops that were a hit! I used frozen mixed berries, blueberry greek yogurt, some baby oatmeal, and a pouch of Plum Organics Just Peaches. I froze the mixture in the Baby Bullet freezer tray, using her plastic baby spoons as the sticks.

John had his birthday and this special guy got a homemade Superman cake...did I ever mention how much he loves Superman?? He is a total Superman geek. It's really quite adorable.

We have had some fun times at the local splash pads with the girls :)

And always kept hydrated! 

Isn't that floral suit the cutest! It's from Janie & Jack- scored it on clearance!

We have had some beautiful park days...

...swinging on the swings..

...and going for walks :)

Celebrated our 2 year anniversary with a family picnic at the botanical gardens!

And then my birthday 3 days later :) 

Carly has started to hold out on her kisses...but I don't give up!

Dinners are messier than ever...and she has days when she is quite the picky eater...obviously not this particular meal!

Pasta with red sauce or cheese has been a go to meal around here- she loves it and I'm not going to question it!

...because it results in a solid 12+ hour sleep at night! Bring on the pasta baby!

Overall, the last 4 weeks have been wonderful- complete with sunny days, birthdays, time spent with family & friends, and more fun than these pictures capture :)

However....life as a mom does have its moments...such as...

Screaming until I come out of the bathroom...

She no longer is wanting to ride in her stroller because she wants to walk...

She is getting into EVERYTHING...

Oh and...

...she pinches now. Fabulous. There's a first they don't tell you about!

Some upcoming excitement will include Carly's first birthday!!!! Along with the other 3 girls in my play date group :) 4 parties in 4 weeks!!! John also has vacation in September so we will be doing a little traveling :) I will give you a hint as to what Carly's birthday theme is...

To say this girl loves Mickey is an understatement!

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope you all have a fun weekend!! :)

Today's Picture

I spy with my little eye...pure amazement by the birds in the pet store :) 

I couldn't hardly tear her away from the birds, she kept babbling to them and tapping...er..banging on the glass! Sorry kid, we will never own a bird. 

OOTD-Outfits of the Day

Today Carly and I were doing a little birthday party shopping, and I figured we looked decent enough for some OOTD (outfit if the day) pics! I guess you can be the real judge! Carly always looks adorable!

My flats are from American Eagle and Carly's sandals are from Target!

Carly's tank and leggings are from Baby Gap, and her headband is handmade by me :)

I chose to try out the chambray on denim look (is it a look??).My shirt is from J Crew and my shorts are from American Eagle. My leather fringe cross body was a gift from many years ago. 

Thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Carly's favorite show, I managed to paint my nails! Woohoo!! I went with this reddish coral color called Lost Without My GPS from OPI and I used this Philosophy Lip Shine in Vanilla Birthday Cake. 

No accessories today other than my watch and diamond studs- simple and baby proof! I didn't feel like getting my earlobes pulled today...

Hope everyone is having a great week! I am working on a post, so hopefully it will be up within the next day or so!! 

Today's Picture (New Blog Series)

There are a lot of days I capture an awesome picture but have nothing much to blog about, so I decided to start a new blog series on my blog: I Spy With My Little Eye. These posts will basically be just a picture with a quick description and the pictures might be smaller because I will do these posts from my phone. They might be short & sweet, or long...I have a tendency to ramble... Ha! 

So today's picture:

I spy with my little eye...Carly following Daddy through Lowes....leaving me to push her stroller..

"Don't worry, I got the stroller guys!"-Me

 She's growing up so fast! Haha!

It's a Girl!

No, I'm not pregnant or having another baby! My beautiful sister-in-law is expecting her first baby this August and a few Saturdays ago we got to shower her with love & gifts!!

It was crazy hot outside, but the morning was beautiful. Carly was keeping hydrated with her sippy cup thank goodness, poor baby's cheeks were flushed from the heat! She had fun though- especially at the toy table that was set up for all the babies! (*note to self: buy giant Legos!)

Of course Carly and I matched! Both our outfits were purchased at Target: my dress, my shoes , Carly's romper (it was on clearance, so I can't find it online), and I made her headband!

I loved the idea of hanging up some of the clothes baby girl got in a clothes line to display!

I was chugging iced tea like it was going out of style, so good thing there was plenty!

One of her gifts was this adorable board full of bows- such a cute gift idea!

My gift to her is currently on order (Petunia Picklebottom Boxy Backpack), so I whipped up a few things with my beginner status sewing knowledge! It was the first time I sewed a zipper and it really wasn't as scary as I was anticipating! All in all, I am happy with how it all turned out and she loved it which is the important thing :)

I made a zippered wetbag for the diaper bag which could be used for soiled/dirty clothes or for cloth diapers if she chooses to go that route....

...a changing mat which could be used anywhere

(extras are always nice for traveling or to keep in the car!)....

I used some Velcro to create a pouch for diapers, wipes, etc., but it will also fold out into a longer mat once baby girl is older and longer! I felt that was a good idea....I'm sort of proud :)

....and a few burp cloths and headbands; all necessities for me so that's how I decided what to make!

These are all simple projects that I didn't even use a pattern for. The only challenge came with the PUL waterproof fabric that I used for the wetbag and changing mat, only because it is slippery and slips as you are sewing it.

So excited for the arrival of my little niece!

Stars & Stripes

I hope everyone had a Happy Independence Day! We are so blessed to have independence, freedom, and a wonderful country to live in. I feel a special feeling this July because one of my cousins is serving in the US Navy so it brought a new sense of personal pride to the holiday for me- and I'm sure the rest of my family. Carly has only met her cousin once while he was on leave, and we are SO anxious for her to see him again soon :)

I hope you are all enjoyed your holiday with some BBQin', drinks, and fun people! John worked that day, so we actually celebrated the 3rd of July by spending the day at the beach! This was a very big deal because it was Carly's first time at the beach!!!

She was totally mesmerized by the waves and immediately started babbling about how cool they were (well, that's how we interpreted it)! She never fussed out by the water and was never scared of the waves crashing up, which made for a perfect first experience....especially when you just never know what sort of reaction a baby will give you with something new- good, bad, or otherwise!

The weather was nice, no sun which was a bummer, but it allowed me to focus more on watching Carly take in every new moment rather than being concerned with my tan, ha! What can I say, I'm not a bad mom for wanting a little we color....but it was a perfect day even without tan lines.

She was perfectly content taking in all the sights....so long as we didn't keep pushing the sand thing. Let's just say Carly wasn't wild about the sand. Whenever we put her feet in the softer sand, she just kept backing into us trying to get out....such a little diva. She didn't mind the hard sand up by the water, but that soft stuff was just not going to happen!

That's okay, the waves provided all the necessary entertainment.

Our 3rd of July outfits were perfect, stars & stripes, and as usual, we coordinated :) John thinks the way I shop is hilarious: Carly's outfit comes first, then I MUST find something to coordinate for holidays! That's the rules of being a new mom right? I'm pretty sure I read something about that in What to Expect....

Anyone else just dying over that smile??

Carly's dress was from Target and I made her hairbow. I'm kind of obsessed with her denim bow....I was mildly freaking out as I was making it! I already have plans for a few other styles of denim bows because they are JUST. SO. CUTE.

My dress was also from Target...

It is actually a swim cover up I think, or at least that was the section it was in. It is so so soft, I am very happy with it and have already worn it a few more times!

Another great part of our 3rd of July celebrating was the shopping it entailed! We wandered up to the shops off the beach and got to pick up a few fun items! I was so excited to go into Lush and pick up a few of my favorites:

The Ocean Salt Scrub, my absolute favorite face scrub! It feels so nice on my skin, I love the smell, and it's so pretty!!!

(This is before it's mixed up, but I just had to get a picture while it was still fresh because it look so cool!)

I also got another Buffy, which is the most amazing secret weapon :) It exfoliates you AND moisturizes you in the shower, allowing you to skip the lotion step after the shower. I love you Buffy. You are such a perfect addition in my routine! I love the smell of Lush filling my home...(and shower!)...mmm!

If you shop in Lush (or ever get the opportunity to), you seriously need to try one of these!

 

 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and continuing to have a wonderful month of July!