#2

The news is out! We are having a baby!!! Somedays I still can't believe it. lol We are almost 8 weeks, due in the summer!
We asked baby girl
"Do you want a baby brother?"
-"Nooo"
"Do you want a baby sister?"
-"wooohooo!"

I think it was adorable, although she has no idea what the difference is b/t brother and sister. It's just cute b/c she keeps talking about baby sister. I keep telling her not to get her hopes up.. lol

Guess who's 2?

November 3rd my baby turned 2! We had a week long celebration starting with a small party, then a family trip to Disney! Her party's theme was Minnie Mouse. Can you guess what she just loves!? lol The highlight of our trip was seeing her meet Mickey and Minnie. She's gone before, but she was 11 months old and doesn't remember any of it...

2 years old means lots of joys and headaches. lol She's got some sass and her vocabulary keeps increasing. It's so fun to be able to carry a conversation with her. It's awesome to watch her little mind work as she learns more and more each day. With the age 2, we also get the "terrible 2's"... So far we've seen a lot of defiant attitude, just her litter sinner's heart coming out. But she does a good job of obeying and I couldn't ask for a better kid. We just see each defiant behavior as an opportunity to teach her. I look forward to being able to teach her and show her God's love. She already loves reading her Bible.

Here are a few pics of her party... I will upload more later...
singing happy birthday


Blowing out her candle

pumpkin patch

The best part about this time of year is going to the pumpkin patch! :) We finally got a chance to go and pick out a pumpkin... Baby girl loves pumpkins.

Baby girl at the same pumpkin patch last year!

What a difference 1 year makes... She did not like the hay. lol

She actually picked up this pumpkin lol

Walking with daddy... 2 peas in a pod :)

What a difference...

1 year can make.
Here baby girl is wearing her Jags cheerleading outfit that I bought last year. I bought it big last year so she could wear it 2 years in a row. :) I seriously did not realize how big she was until I saw these 2 pictures. The first year she wore this outfit, the skirt was at her ankles and the shirt kept falling off her shoulder. And now it is a perfect fit...

September 2009- 10 Months

October 1010- 23 Months

23 months old!

My sweet baby girl is now 23 months old. Time has just flown by and we've enjoyed every minute with her... She has grown so much and is just too smart and too independent for her own good. lol
At 23 months:
She wears size 2t clothing
She wears size 7 shoes
She wears size 4 diapers
Loves anything girly, shoes, jewelry, clothes...
Loves puzzles and books
Has recently started sleeping in a toddler bed. We're still working out the kinks at bedtime.
She has a slight crush on Handy Manny :)

There is so much that changes every month, it's hard to keep up. She is so smart and loves to learn. We are planning her 2nd birthday and I can't wait! We're not really doing a party, just dinner with family. This year she has 3 cousins to play with, last year she only had 1. :)
She is so wonderful and I am so thankful I get to watch her grow.

5 Years!!!

Happy 5 year anniversary to my wonderful husband!
It's so amazing to look past these 5 years and see how God's taken care of us. Here's some highlights of the past 5 years, the good, the bad and the ugly :)


1 bedroom apartment (2005)
getting our first baby (the cat) ( October 2005)
9 months of house hunting (2006-2007)
Finding "the house" and then not being able to get it (too many times)
changing jobs (October 2006)
Our first nephew was born! (Oct 2006)
Finally getting our dream home! (May 2007)
Moving day!
M losing his job the day after we moved in
Septic tank collapses (July 2007)
Job hunting..
M Finding a teaching job (fall 2007)
hating teaching job, changing careers (winter 2007)
New job for M (Jan 2008)
We're going to be parents (March 2008)
Awaiting the arrival of our first baby (2008)
The best day of our married life, our princess was born! (Nov 2008)
Our first trip to Disney as a family of 3 (March 2009)
Getting an agent for M's book (2009)
Agent leaving
Sending out the book proposal (2009)
Not getting a publisher :(
Back to square 1 with the art world..
Kevin is created (Spring/summer 2010)
Our first niece is born! (May 2010)
Our 2nd nephew is born! (June 2010)



There has been SO much more that has happened... I have loved every minute of our lives together and can't wait to see what else God has for us. I'm so thankful for my husband. He is so patient and kind (and it takes a lot of patience w/ me). He's generous and selfless. He is my best friend, my helper, my forever boyfriend. Watching him play with our daughter makes me fall in love with him more and more. I still don't know what I did to deserve him. We are such an unlikely match, he is cool and calm. I am paranoid and high strung... But we are a fit. God brought us together and I am so thankful for that. He is my prince charming in every way!

No happenings...

I have been slacking on blogging... There's nothing much to blog about. Life is dull, and there are no complaints about that. lol Baby girl is growing fast, we are 1 1/2 months away from her 2nd birthday. It feels like we just had her first birthday. I am enjoying this age so much, she is learning so much. Everyday brings new words, new behaviors, new funs...
She loves to read books, loves to play with mommy and daddy. Her new favorite thing to do is grab her favorite toys (all of her Disney playhouse characters) and hide underneath my dining room table. I am not a fan. Not only does she leave her mess there all day, she constantly yells "mommy help, stuck" so I have to move all the chairs for her to get out. lol I let her play in there sometimes b/c she seems to like it so much, it's not really harming anything. I just hate toys everywhere. I like to keep her mess contained to her room. Alas, it provides a great opportunity to teach her to clean up :)

She is also very much in LOVE with Disney Princesses. I haven't really introduced her to anything like that b/c I didn't think she was old enough. But a friend of the family gave her a princess lunchbox and now baby girl is obsessed w/ Princesses. We got her Princess PJ's... :) And we watch Princess and the Frog (or Princess froggie) about 4-6 times a week. lol She loves it!

Nothing else is going on.. Just doing our same mundane routine. BUT again, no complaints here, I like mundane. I thank God for mundane days with my family. :)

Birthday celebration!!!

This past weekend was M's birthday. To celebrate, we went to Hollywood Studios. There were 5 of us and we had a blast. Even though it was hot. Baby girl had a blast and totally impressed us with her excellent behavior. She got to see all her favorite playhouse Disney characters.

Waiting to go in...

Kisses for Handy Manny

Little Einsteins is her favorite!

Walking with daddy... Mommy made her dress and bow!

birthday kiss for the birthday boy :)

1,000 gifts/reasons to be thankful part 3

continuing my list as I try to stay focused being thankful...

41. Playhouse Disney to entertain certain little toddler
42. Food
43. Music
44. books
45. pacifiers
46. cool weather
47. crafting supplies
48. sales!
49. cell phone
50. shoes

ER

On Monday night, as I was giving baby girl a bath, I noticed her lips were swollen. Daddy quickly went to CVS to get some benadryl b/c our first thought was allergic reaction. The pharmacist told us to take her to the ER b/c her throat could swell up. So off we went. As we waited, her feet and hand swelled as well. The ER doctor told us it was probably and allergic reaction to something she ate. We went home and the next day she woke up with swollen eyes and a rash. So I called her peds. And off we were again. It turns out that she did not have an allergic reaction, but it's a viral infection. :( We were very thankful that she's not allergic to anything, but it's so hard to sit and watch her like this. It has not affected her behavior much, she's just a bit clingy (mommy doesn't mind) but she has a rash everywhere. Sad! Unfortunately there's not much we can do but wait it out.
I am so thankful that it turned out to be something minor, but the night we took her to the ER was a bit overwhelming. This whole week has been draining. Last night she and I "partied" until 3am b/c she just couldn't get comfortable and sleep. She finally fell asleep cuddled up w/ mommy. Hopefully she will have a better night tonight.


waiting in the ER with daddy

1,000 gifts/reasons to be thankful

continuing my list as I try to stay focused being thankful...

21. my bed
22. food in my fridge
23. coffee, creamer and sugar :)
24. Tylenol to get rid of these pesky migraines
25. diapers and wipes
26. shopping trips with girlfriends
27. cooking dinner w/ my husband
28. Veging on the couch with my husband
29. Cuddle times with baby girl
30. having a conversation with my toddler
31. hearing my baby's sweet voice
32. a clean house
33. Coming home to find that my sweet husband cleaned the kitchen
34. pacifiers and blankies
35. sleeping in
36. shoes!
37. finding sales
38. music
39. crafting..
40. Any craft stores (Joann's and Michaels are my weakeness)

What are some things you're thankful for?

1,000 gifts/reasons to be thankful

My friend Joanna is making a list of 1,000 things she's thankful for. I decided I need to focus on the blessings in my life and wanted to do the list to help me. :) Thanks for the idea Joanna!

1. My wonderful husband
2. My amazing daughter
3. Loving Family
4. our house
5. Hubby's great job
6. No car payments (I need to focus on this one, as we only have 1 car and I'm dying to have a 2nd car)
7. No debt (other than house and student loans)
8. Naps!
9. My keurig (it's always a nice break when I get to sit down for coffee)
10. cool weather (can't wait for fall)
11. ribbons...
12. Air conditioning
13. Publix (love shopping there)
14. Target
15. toys to entertain a certain toddler
16. my camera (I love taking pictures)
17. vacuum cleaner to suck up all the dog hair
18. the Bible
19. Our awesome church
20. Sweet friends

in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thess 5:18

More to come! :) I really want to focus more of my time in thanking God for His many blessings and being content with HIS plan for my life!

ooopps...

So, I haven't blogged in a while. lol I've been busy keeping up with my bows shop.
I haven't blogged in a while, but there are no updates... My little princess is now 21 months old. I am already thinking of her 2nd birthday party. It'll just be an intimate party with family, but it's exciting!!! Nona (my mother in law) will be making the cake. :) She made a beautiful princess cake last year. I'm excited for this year. I have lots of ideas.

For right now, baby girl is growing and learning fast. She LOVES the alphabet. She can identify a lot of her letters and their sounds. She has the alphabet magnet on the fridge and loves playing with them and pointing out each letter. She also loves playing with her baby dolls and "feeding" them their bottles. She loves putting them in the stroller and going for a "walk". It's adorable. Another favorite of hers is cars, she loves playing with them. It's so cute. She takes after mommy, I have always loved cars!

This past weekend, we finally got her a wagon. She saw one at the mall and immediately fell in love. She has a little one at home, I used it for her stuffed animals, and she loved going on rides in it. But it's not made for kids. So after we bought her one, she was beyond excited. She loves that wagon! I'm so happy that we were able to spoil her a bit this past weekend and get her her very own wagon!

"helping" daddy put the wagon together...

Going on a walk...

New beginnings...

For the past 6-7 months, I had been meeting, once a week, with a group of ladies from my church to study a book we'd been reading and spend time in the Word. The book we read was by Susan Heck, called With the Master in the School of Tested Faith, and it took us through the book of James. We read a chapter a week and at the end of each chapter there were 8-9 questions, some of which required us to dig into other books of the Bible. I loved the study. It took me a little while to get used to reading, I hadn't read in years (shame on me) and I had not done a study like this since college. But alas, now it's over. We finished the book and all decided that we should continue doing a form of study and discipling, but with other ladies... I'm excited to see what's next. I'm excited at the opportunity to get to know another group of ladies from my church. I will miss our Tuesday night study, but we can still see each other at church and stuff.
As for now, I'm looking for a new book to get into. I'd like to read something that will help me grow spiritually. Someone suggested The Attributes of God by AW Pink. I'm thinking of getting into that.. I picked up a book I had at home by John Piper, Life as a Vapor. So far I like it. Do you have any suggestions!? :) Are you getting into the Word daily? Is there a book that has helped you grow, other than the Bible?

broken

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
-Romans 8:28

There is so much heartache in our broken world. I sometimes have to remind myself that we live in a sinful world. I am surrounded by bad news and my heart aches for so many... Some people who I don't even know, but can relate to. At these times I am thankful to have a Father to cling to. We have HIS Word filled with His truth and promises.
A verse I've come across this week is Romans 8:28. I love this verse. It's a great reminder that everything that happens, good or bad, is for HIS purpose. We may never know why some things happen, they just do. God is control of all things and it's comforting to be reminded of that.

20 months!

oooopps I forgot to post for her 20 months!
She turned 20 months on July 3rd. I can hardly believe it. She has been so fun! She is learning so FAST! She loves to talk. A lot! I wish I could understand her :) She knows a lot of real words, but still does a lot of her own language. :) She is very into the alphabet lately. She loves letters and learning letter sounds. She recognizes a lot of the letters and knows a lot of the sounds. when we go out, she points out all the letters she knows.
At 20 months:
-Wear 18-24 months clothes
-Wear 5-6 shoes
-Wear size 4 diapers
-Love to play with your baby dolls
-Love to wear jewelry
-Love to talk...
-Most days you go around the house saying "daddy where are you"
-You are soaking everything up, like a little sponge
-You are learning new words daily. :)
-You are so curious and want to learn as much as possible.
-You like to watch mommy cook

This has by far been the most fun age. I love teaching you new things!

New toys!

My little princess has a few favorite tv shows. Right now we don't have cable, so we stick with PBS. She LOVES Super Why. I like it because it teaches her the alphabet and she's learning it at a fast rate. Super Why has 4 kids that are super heroes, the main one being Whyatt, or Super Why. :) Anyways, baby girl's cousin has a sketch doodle thing that she loves. He has a Toy Story one and I wanted a different one. I found a Super Why one at Toys r Us, on SALE (my favorite way to shop). I bought it 2 days ago, she has yet to let go of it. :) Totally worth the $3.73. I plan on going back to get another one to hide in case this one breaks.

This week also brought another new toy. I was planning on buying legos b/c she also loves to play with it at her cousin's house. I wanted a pink set, but they were not on sale. A friend of mine who has 3 girls, had an extra bag of blocks and just gave it to me. Isn't she awesome! I constantly tell her she's such a blessing! And they are pink!!! :) Baby girl loves building with them and I love watching her.
Both of her new toys are an instant favorite and keeps her entertained for hours! I really think she was bored with her old toys.

BTW the girl loves jewelry. As you can see in the pictures, part of our getting dressed routine means getting one of her "pretty's" or necklaces to put on. :)

BEACH Day!

There's a little girl in this house that loves the beach! It's a lot of fun and it's so great to watch her. She has such a blast and also gets worn out, which is perfect for bedtime :)
Last week we went at sunset, it was a beautiful day. I took over 100 pictures, but I'll spare you... Here are a few.

The water...

Daddy and his little princess

Me and my girl!

Coupons

I LOVE coupons... Love making my grocery list and finding as many coupons as I can possibly find. And love our BOGO sale at our local grocery store.
Publix is having some great sales. I use this blog a lot in helping me find coupons.
I also go to Publix' website to see what else is BOGO and go on the hunt for more coupons. My grocery list today consists entirely of just BOGO items and they all have coupons... :)

Here are some I found:
Breakstone sour cream is BOGO. Click here for a $.55 coupon, which you can print twice. That means you get 2 tubs of sour cream for $.79

Kraft salad dressing is also BOGO. Click here for a $.55 coupon, which you can print twice. Making your total $2.17 for 2 jars of salad dressing. Not bad!

Reynold's Aluminum foil is also BOGO. Click here for $1 coupon, print twice. Makes 2 containers of foil at $2.29.

These were my favorite deals of the week. There are more to find... Hope it helps. If you visit that blog I posted above, she updates it weekly with lots of great BOGO deals!

Watching TV

This little girl loves her cartoons. I do monitor what she watches and for how long. Typically she'll watch PBS in the mornings, sporadically, she rarely ever sits and watches something for long. But she has her favorites. lol She also loves Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Little Einsteins. But since we don't have cable, those are rare for her.
Right now her favorite movie is Princess and the Frog. Now, she will sit and watch the entire thing from beginning to end. lol Actually, not really sit, but stand. She likes to watch TV standing in front of the set, which presents a problem because it's too high for her. Daddy and I plan on buying her a chair, and I found the one I LOVE at Target, pink of course. I found it at the store, I think it's this one, if not, it's pretty similar. I can't wait to buy it!!!
Pottery barn (my new favorite store) also has some great ones I love, I'd love a pink one w/ her name on it. But that will have to wait. lol

Speaking of Pottery barn, I recently purchased this backpack in solid pink and LOVE it!!!! She's able to carry it and mommy no longer has to carry a huge bag. Well, I'm working on her carrying her own backpack, she has her moments. :)

A day at the zoo

We took baby girl to the zoo this past week. We have the membership and love to go for a few hours in the morning, before it gets too hot. :) It was a blast, and although we were not fully prepared for her to get wet, we still let her play in the water zone and she had so much fun!!!

The smallest monkey. So cute, isn't it?! I want one!!!

I think birds are such beautiful creatures.

Train station :)

Sitting with daddy and looking for the capybaras...

"ooohh"

Having so much fun getting wet!

19 months old

I can hardly believe that my princess in 19 months old today. We're 5 months away from her 2nd birthday party. She's growing so fast and learning so much. I've really been enjoying this age..
At 19 months:
-Loves Mickey Mouse clubhouse, Handy Manny and her all time favorite, Little Einsteins.
-Loves to play in her kitchen and "cook"
-The girl LOVES shoes and bows :)
-Loves a little bling bling (necklaces and bracelets)
-Wears size 5-6 shoes
-Wears size 4 diapers
-Wears 18-24 month clothes
-Loves to carry and sleep w/ as many blankies as she can possibly find
-Loves to play w/ the cat
-Enjoys a good game of chase around the house
-Has a newfound love, the pool! The girl loves the water
-Has a pretty big vocabulary, but her favorite word (and person) is DADDY. She goes around the house looking for him and calling his name while he's at work. Yesterday when I kept telling her he wasn't home, she started to cry. So we called him :)

Being her mom is a true blessing and I love every minute of it. :)

Time flies

Next week baby girl will be 19 months old. I can hardly believe it. In some ways, it feels the the 2nd year has gone by faster than the 1st... Crazy! I remember around the time of her 1st birthday, I was having a really hard time. I felt like my baby had grown up so fast and it was so hard for me. Once we got past that, and she started changing and growing, I got over it. I love this age. She is so fun. And learning so fast! It's still a little hard to believe that in less than 6 months we'll have a 2 year old (yikes!) but we are blessed and I look forward to all the new things ahead for us.
Her favorite things right now are watching "Little Einsteins"(or Pat Pat Blast off as she calls it), Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Handy Manny and she loves playing w/ baby dolls. :)

grandpa Ron

My hubby's dad lives in NY, so we hardly ever see him. The last time he saw baby girl, she was 4 months old. This time he came to see his brand new granddaughter (my sis in law had a baby) and spend time w/ us. This is the first time that he spent more than 2 days here w/ us. It was fun to see him again and spend some time w/ him. It's always bittersweet to see him go. Baby girl loved her papa.

coloring w/ papa

At the park

Wordless Wednesday

Ode to the moms

First of all, I'd like to wish HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mom's out there.

Secondly, I want to thank my mom for being the best! She has taught me so much and I'm so thankful to have her in my life. She is one of my best friends. I'm thankful for all the support and encouragement she has given to me over the years. She also gets to be nana now and a very good one! She makes beautiful hats, socks and shoesies for baby girl. And she babysits from time to time so mommy can get some stuff done. She is an amazing mother who has made tons of sacrifices for her family. I love you mom!!!!
Here is a picture of my mom, with baby girl and I last Christmas.


Thirdly, I'd like to thank my mother in law for always being there for us. She is always so willing to help me, help my family, anytime we need it. I always tell her I lucked out when I married my hubby b/c I got a good mother in law. :) We get along really well and have tons in common. I tell her I'm her long lost daughter. And she gets to be nona (or nono as baby girl calls her). I call her my babysitter... :) She watches baby girl from time to time so daddy and I can go on dates. She's pretty awesome!!! I love you mom!
Nona (nono), baby girl and I last Christmas.


One of my favorite pictures, baby girl with both grandma's. :)


Lastly, I just want to say that this is my 2nd mother's day as a mom. I love being a mom. It's the best job ever!!!! I love everything that comes with motherhood, even the messy diapers. :) I see my family as my ministry and I'm raising my sweet girl to someday be a godly woman. She truly makes all the problems go away, just with her sweet hugs and smiles. :)
Best day ever!!! The day I became a mom!

Mother's Day, last year!