Wordless Wednesday

One of my favorite pictures from Christmas.
Mom, don't kill me :)

Out with the old...

...In with the new.
I love reflecting on the past year. So much has happened. The hubby and I had so many plans for 2009. Some plans came true, some did not.. But it was a great year. It was our first full year as parents, and we have loved every minute of it. Watching our princess grow is such a blessing. There are so many highlights from this past year, here is some of my favorites:
-We took our princess to Disney for the first time in October
-I got to see my grandfather for the first time in 10 years
-Princess got to meet her great grandfather
-Hubby got a literary agent to try to get his book published
-We stayed focused in paying off our debt
-We celebrated Princess' first birthday in November
-We had many firsts as a family (first Easter, first valentine's day...)
-Teaching princess all sorts of things, like talking and walking...
-We celebrated our first Father's and Mother's day
There have been many more great moments, but it's hard to remember them all. :)

As great as 2009 was, we are so excited for 2010. We have so many plans for the new year. I don't want to talk about all of our plans, but there are a few plans in the works and I just can't wait!

chases

So now that my princess can walk, we are having a blast. We chase her around the house and yell "we're gonna get you"... She giggles and runs (not that fast) away from us. Then we grab her and say "gotcha" and she just laughs and giggles so hard. I love that sound! It's the best! :) Watching her walk is amazing. I spend my days just watching her, looking at how much she's grown and learned.. I am still so amazed when I look at her. Amazed that she's this little person and that I get to raise her. Amazed at how she loves me, even after a spanking. :) She's growing so fast and my love for her grows w/ her.
The best part of my day is when she comes to cuddle with me on the couch. Love it!

This week she's been sick, snot everywhere, coughing. :( So she's been extra clingy, but it's ok. :) Half her snot ends up on my clothes, but I don't mind. Thankfully she hasn't had a fever.. She gets so mad when I wipe her nose. lol She also likes to get my cell phone, and she puts it by her ear and "talks". Sometimes she'll say "hi". I'm trying to teach her how to say hello, but we're not there yet. She did learn, very quickly, how to say tree. If I point to our Christmas tree and ask her what it is, I get a very cute response of "tee".. :) I love that girl! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Just a few words- I LOVE this man!!!! :)

Mini Vacation

On Thursday, we went to Hollywood Studios and Epcot for a mini vacation. It was so great to spend time together. It had been a couple of years since we had gone to Hollywood Studios, I did not remember anything about it.lol And it had been 4 years since Epcot, and I remembered very little about that place. It was a lot of fun, and I always enjoy walking around the different countries at Epcot. My favorite is Italy, it is so pretty! :)
The baby did really well and enjoyed the trip! And of course anytime we go to Disney, we have to go to Downtown Disney, it's a tradition! So we ate at the TRex cafe and then we went to Ghiradelli, I had the hot chocolate and cookie. It was good! :)




And for the latest news, my baby girl has been cruising around the house for about 2 months or so... She is now walking! Yep, for about 2 weeks now, she had been practicing her skills, and now she is walking. It is so cute to watch her walk! And she is learning more words. The one she says the most is "hi". And the girl LOVES to dance and shake her booty. Anytime music comes on, She is dancing! It's hillarious!

sitting with daddy at Playhouse Disney

Snowmen

Ok, so my mother in law gave me this great idea! I made snowmen out of plates and utensils to decorate my dining room table. What do you think!? :) The body and head are white plates. The fork and spoon are arms. The knife is the brim of the hat. I used pompoms for eyes and buttons, ribbon for the nose. Then I just used some black fabric I had at home for the hat, it required hemming, but it was quick. And more ribbon for the scarves. I love how it came out! :)

Christmas!

Christmas time is here! Now that we have a child (and someday more) we really want to start our very own traditions to carry out for years to come. Last year, we had a 5 week old... Now she's 13 months old and we can really start explaining things to her and showing her our traditions.. Something that we have always done, on Christmas Eve, we make our own ornaments. We LOVE being creative and displaying our designs on our tree. This year, we're starting some new ones w/ our daughter. For example, this year, my baby girl has her very own christmas tree. It's a white tree w/ pink ornaments, and I LOVE it! She even helped put the ornaments on the tree... I'm very excited that she gets to have her own tree... Something I'd like to start this year is on Christmas, I want to bake a birthday cake for Jesus and teach my baby the real meaning of Christmas. There are other traditions I'd like to start this year, but I'm still trying to figure some things out...
Before having a child, Christmas was kinda boring to me, but now it's so fun to think of all that I can do w/ my child. Thinking about all the traditions I can start with her is awesome and I can't wait to share it w/ her.
I made our bow for a topper our first Christmas as a married couple...

2 of the ornaments I've made. The piggie (I love pigs) and the poinsettia... The little bottle was given to us for baby's 1st Christmas last year... :)

2 ornaments that the hubby made. He's the artist. lol One is from last year, it has the 3 of us on it. The other was from the year before, just our name.

Our little tree... It's gold and white. I like the simple colors... I LOVE the colors of this tree, but I'd really like to add some brown to it next year. :)

Ok, so I had been bugging my hubby for a pink tree. I am really into hot pink now... So one of our new traditions is that our daughter has her own tree. So I bought the little white tree and added hot pink ornaments... It's in the baby's room, isn't it so cute?! I love it! She even helped me decorate it.

Thanksgiving 3

What else am I thankful for!? This country!
I was not born here. And did not live here the first 11 years of life. When we moved here, we were so thrilled. Learning a new language and new culture was easy for us because we were so ready to embrace it. And now, we are Americans, at heart. People think it's weird that I don't like to talk about where I "come from". When People ask me where I'm from, my reply always is "here. They think I'm crazy b/c somehow it's evident to them that I'm not a "real" American. But I am. I love this country and everything about it. It's home. It's where I belong. I am so thankful that God brought my family here, 16 years ago. I am thankful to have married here and thankful that we get to raise our children here. There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

Adding to that, I'm thankful my parents were brave enough to start over in a new country. They brought us here with no knowledge of what would happen and just let God provide. And time and time again, we've seen God's provision for us. It's amazing to look back at my life and see how much God provided and see how He wanted us to be here. It's just a wonderful country and I hope no one takes it for granted.

So why is Thanksgiving my favorite holiday. Well, it's when the pilgrims celebrated their new life in a new country. If it weren't for their coming, there may not have been an America. So I'm thankful for them! :) I'm thankful for the 13 colonies and thankful for all of our states. Thanksgiving is just a reminder to be thankful for this wonderful country and it's simple beginnings... Are you thankful for America?!

Thanksgiving 2

Today, I want to focus on something else I am thankful for. I am thankful for motherhood! I'm so thankful for my little girl. I'm thankful God blessed my life with such a happy and easygoing child. I love her so much and am proud to be her mama. She is just perfect and I'm blessed to have her in my life. I'm grateful that God has given me such a precious girl to raise! She just makes everything better!!!
I love my little girl! She is sassy and stubborn just like her mama! :)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is this week, it's my favorite holiday, because I love fall! This week, I want to focus on things I am thankful for. I should do that on a daily basis...

First of all, I am SO thankful for my hubby. He is the best! He is everything I ever looked for in a husband and so much more. He is my best friend, I can tell him everything, he is the one I always go running to, to tell all my secrets and concerns... Or to just talk about my day. He is a terrific father. He takes such good care of our daughter. He gets on the floor and plays with her, they are 2 peas in a pod together. And he gives her baths, feeds her and just does everything with such a loving heart. It is so wonderful to see your hubby interact with his little girl. He is also a wonderful provider. He works hard to make sure our family is taken care of. I love best taking care of our house, my hubby and child is a dream come true!
I'm so thankful for my husband and everything he does for me and our family. I'm thankful for who he is and that I can always count on him!
Mike doing what he does best, working on his art! :)

Birthday!

My baby girl turned 1 on the 3rd. I had so many ideas of what our day would be like. I asked the hubby to take the day off and we started out the day at Toys r us to get a toy. :) It was great. Then we went to the park... We had a very simple and small party, just with the family and it turned out exactly how I wanted it. It was great to celebrate this special day with close family and just enjoy being with each other. The day was perfect and I am still in a bit of shock that my sweet baby is now 1!

When I found out I was having a girl (1 1/2 ago) I knew her first birthday party would be princess themed. I've dreamed of a castle cake, and my wonderful mother in law made this cake. Isn't it beautiful?! And it was SO yummy too!

She was dying to get her hands on that cake, so it was hard to get a good picture.

Her birthday outfit. I made the tutu. :) And the bows too...

Happy 1st birthday to my baby girl!

Was it really 1 year ago that we met this precious little girl!? Seems like it was just yesterday, and yet seems like she's been here forever. I remember a feeling like no other the first time I saw her. It was truly one of the best moments for both of us!

Our lives were forever changed and we are so thankful for the incredible blessing of parenthood!

I am still very much in love with this sweet little girl!

She has daddy wrapped around her little finger! :)

Here we are today! Can you believe it's been a year already?! It sure went by fast! But we are so thankful to be able to celebrate this birthday. We love our sweet girl! Happy 1st birthday darling!!!!!

Mommy and Daddy's big girl

We've had some recent changes in our house lately. Today, I have put all the bottles away. No more bottles for our house. :) Our big girl is drinking only from a sippy cup now. Also, she's stopped drinking formula. For the past 3 weeks or so, I've been weaning her off formula and introducing milk. Now she's only drinking milk. Our wallets are pretty happy about that one. :) It's hard to think about how fast time goes, but so exciting to watch her change and accomplish new things! We're also 6 days away from celebrating her first birthday. Very exciting!!!!!

baby jail

Guess where we've been putting her lately to keep her trapped?! Sounds cruel, I know. lol BUT she is cruising all over the house, getting into trouble, and it just stresses me out. I can't get anything done. This way, she plays, safely. I know where she is at all times, and I can get some stuff done. She is not there long, I take her out throughout the day and let her wander about. :)

My vovo

My grandpa came to visit for 6 weeks, I hadn't seen him in over 10 years. he left yesterday to go back to Brazil. It was hard to see him go, but it was wonderful just to get to see him again. The best part, was that he got to meet my daughter. He fell in love with her and called her "boneca", which is doll in Portuguese. :) This is their last picture together...

Wordless Wednesday

Her first pigtails!

Savings!

I went to Publix this morning and had an awesome time, I love Publix!!!!
I had my list and coupons all ready. Got my stuff.... Then when I went to check out, I was watching the nifty computers they have that lets us see our total. My savings kept going up with my total. Then, at the end, he scanned my coupons. I saved over $37 and spent $33. Gotta love it when you save more than you spent. I was so excited!!!!!
For my shopping list, I use these 2 sites, to help me get all my coupons and saving organized.
coupons
Fiddledeedee Mom

Everything I got valued at $70, bought for $33. :)


To find some more ways to save, check out the right, bottom side of my blog for more links.

Brush brush!

Can you guess what we learned to do tonight?!

11 months old!

My baby is 11 months old. I can hardly believe that next month she'll be one. It's been very emotional for me b/c I feel like time has done by way too fast! It seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little bundle of joy and now she's this little stubborn, want to be independent little girl. She is learning so much everyday and it's so fun to see all the changes. Our biggest change lately has been that she is dying to walk. She does very well cruising around the house, holding onto whatever she can. She walks well with her walker too. But she really wants to walk and chase the older kids. We know she'll get there eventually. :)

Fall is here!

Today is the first day that it's felt like fall here. It's not cold by any means, but it's also not 90 degrees. :) I love fall!!! My sweet girl has a cute fall outfit from grandma Renea that she got to wear recently. I love it, b/c I love fall!
Meanwhile, time is flying by and my baby is growing way too fast. She is dying to walk, and can do so as long as she's holding on to things. She really wants to be able to chase other kids and I know it's coming soon. On Saturday, she'll be 11 months. She will be celebrating that day with Mickey Mouse! :)

on September 24th...

4 years ago, we got married! I can hardly believe it! I am so thankful for these wonderful years and feel so incredibly blessed with the life God has given us. God blessed me with an amazing husband and I am so thankful for him. He is my everything, my prince charming! He is incredible and I am a better person because of him.
I love you honey! Happy Anniversary!

Surprise

I went to get my angel from her nap this afternoon and found this! It's a first here in our house...

Leap Frog

One of our favorite toys here is a leap frog table center... It requires the child to stand up to play and it plays music, lights up and some other stuff. For grown ups, it's annoying for 2 reasons. It's loud and repetitive, and it requires supervision for babies who think they can stand alone, but that tip over often. lol My child LOVES to stand and play with that. So much so, that anytime we put her sitting or laying down she'd get mad and fight us b/c she wanted to stand. So what did mommy do!? I took the toy away. It is in her bedroom now, she plays with it daily, but for a very limited time. I have some peace now, but the girl is obsessed with walking and standing. That's all she wants to do. I told her that the day will come that she will be somewhere sick and tired of walking and will ask daddy to carry her... :)

Anyways, she's getting close to walking, pretty soon I'll have to be running around after her.

Here she is playing hard with her leap frog table

Apparently it requires deep concentration :)

Need I say more!?

My girl!

I just want to take a minute to say that I LOVE my girl!!!!! :)

Busy girl!

This morning, I was watching my sweet baby as she was feeding herself some cookies and realized, she's no longer my tiny baby. She's growing into this stubborn, independent, beautiful little girl. I was telling my hubby that I miss the tiny baby that didn't have an attitude. :) But it is so much fun to see her grow and learn new things everyday.

Daddy and daughter cheer on the Jaguar's first game! Isn't she the prettiest cheerleader?!

I love that she can feed herself! :)

Her favorite toy! She would spend hours there if we let her....

She LOVES to walk. She is dying to walk on her own, but for now, she is content with a walker or holding mommy's hands...

I love my sweet girl! :) She is so fun!