Five Months

Baby girl, you continue to amaze us with your sweet, funny personality. You love to cuddle and have started giving kisses. Your laugh is infectious and your smile lights up any room. You continue to have such a sweet demeanor and are so easy going. People are continuously amazed at how good you are. As long as you're near whatever is going on, you are content to just be. This last month has been so fun for you...

In the last month you have:

• started eating "solids": rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, apples, and green beans. you LOVE food!
• become VERY vocal...you definitely know what you want
• continued to be a fantastic sleeper...at night...we're still working on your naps.
• started grabbing things with such intensity
• become very focused when trying to figure something out...you have the cutest concentration face!

 
People are still amazed at how petite you are...strangers always comment on it. You are super strong though. You're getting ready to crawl...when you're on your tummy you plant your feet and lift your butt in the air. It's so cute. You love standing and can almost sit up on your own. Your faces still make us laugh and I know they're just a glimpse at your character.

Words really cannot express how much we love you and how happy you make us. Happy five months, sweet girl. We love you!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2010

(Miss Anayah apparently didn't want to take a picture!)

Just a quick glimpse at our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day events...

 matching with daddy...

 
 and mommy too...of course.


Christmas morning is finally here!

 

Umm, I might need help...these boxes are bigger than me!

 I can do it daddy.

Just because it's Christmas doesn't mean I skip tummy time!

 
I guess opening presents is completely exhausting.

Anayah thoroughly enjoyed her first Christmas and was a such a trooper at our Christmas Eve party (which started after her bedtime). She was very excited to open presents and just be a part of all the excitement. She of course was the center of attention and loved every minute of it. We spent Christmas day in San Diego with my family and enjoyed being spoiled by grandma and grandpa. Everyone had a great time. It was a good first Christmas for baby girl and we can't wait for next year!

Mini Break

Just a quick note to say that I'm taking a small break from blogging for a little bit. I'm sure you won't miss me but for those who do, I'll be back soon. Promise. Until then, enjoy your holiday season!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Crafts

I'm sure you've seen some fun holiday crafts floating around blog land these days. This ornament tree is one of my favorites. It's simple and festive and so shiny!

And super easy to make! Here's how:

Start with some foam cones. You can find them at Michael's or I got mine at the Dollar Tree. They come in different sizes. The ones I got at DT are much smaller than the ones at Michael's but much cheaper too. 

I also got some foam discs used for floral arrangements to add some height to the cones

Then I got a bunch of ornaments (different sizes and colors or whatever floats your boat). Most of them I bought last year after Christmas on clearance...or from the Dollar Tree (again, I know but it's a fab place!)

Pull the tops off the ornaments and gently push them into the cones. You can arrange them in a pattern or just place them randomly all over. Use a dab of hot glue to secure them. 

Now you can just leave it as is and it will be good to go.


Or you can take some garland, cut small pieces, and stuff them in the spaces between the ornaments to fill the holes and make it appear fuller

Now I have a couple more to do then off to finish the Christmas decor. Happy crafting!

Fa La La La La

It's the one time of year that I actually decorate my house according to the holiday. I never put anything up for Halloween or Thanksgiving or Easter or Valentine's Day. But Christmas? Yes, please. I'm not quite sure the logic behind all that but oh well who cares. It's time to bust out the Christmas decor.

We all went to Bri's championship game Sunday morning. They won 9-3 and B did so good. Great way to end the season! After we got home, we dug out the bins and got to work. Last year we invested in an artificial tree because Bri didn't really want to deal with the mess after all was said and done and I didn't really care either way. So we busted that bad boy out and threw on carefully placed the ornaments. Anayah just watched and stared at all the lights and shiny things. Maybe next year she can help. Here's the tree so far...

I still need to finish the mantle and wreath for the front door and I have a few Christmas crafts that I'm working on. I'll show them to you tomorrow. Maybe.

Jack's Back

Anayah's friend Jack has been out of town for a week and she hasn't seen him in almost two. She was definitely going through withdrawals. So we finally got them together for a playdate today and they chatted up a storm. That is when one of them wasn't eating, sleeping, fussing, or pooping.

playing hard to get...I'm mad that you left for so long Jack.

They were quite the pair in their matching corduroys. Great minds think alike!

 Oh great, two cameras. This is gonna take a while...

Of course their mommies made them do the requisite photo shoot. This time they played along for a little bit longer...

 I'll walk you through this Jack. My mom makes me do this ALL the time!

 Hey man, you gonna share the goods or what?!

but they drew the line shortly after we tried to incorporate the holiday background. Jack had had enough and pulled it all down...he didn't really care that it came down on Anayah either :)

 Jaaaack! Get me outta here!

The babies had fun and so did their mommies, catching up and just hanging out. We even managed to bake a batch of cookies. No, they weren't from scratch...we didn't have time for that. Did you NOT see the photos above?! :) We had our hands full people. 

What A Day

 Chocolate chip banana muffins baked during nap time?

Check.

Baby down for the night?

Check.

Dinner in the oven?

Check.

Time to workout with the hubster and relax for the night. 

Hope your week is going well so far!

Four Months

I know I say this every month but I really can't believe how time has flown by! You are already four months old! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital. You continue to be the happiest, most easy going baby. You are always smiling and laughing and talking. You are very social once you're comfortable and you love being the center of attention.

 

In the last month you have:

• started talking a lot more
• rolled over a few times
• started sleeping 12 hours at night! :)
• gained a better understanding of those hands and what they do!
• continued to drool like crazy...still waiting on those teeth to pop through
• been more observant...we tease you about being a nosy girl

At four months you are:

• wearing clothes anywhere from 0-6mo 
• weighing in at a whopping 11 lbs, 13 oz
• measuring 23 in. long
• in the tenth percentile in both height and weight

We're looking forward to all the new adventures this next month will bring. We are so proud to have you and blessed that you are part of our family. We love you baby girl!

Week In Review

Yikes, it's been almost a week since I've been on here! We've been busy just hanging out as a family and spending time with baby girl. Here's what we've been up to...I'll let Anayah tell you all about it.

Excuse me, little girl... 

Yes, how may I help you?

What have you been up to lately?

I spent time with my great grandma

Mommy took me flying in my living room

 

 They put me in my carseat...again...but at least I was with Sophie.

Then they stuffed me in this sweater on Thanksgiving. Good times.

Anayah got to see lots of friends and family this week, most of whom she had never met. Her sleep schedule was completely abandoned and she was in the car a ton more than she has ever been but she was a trooper! She was social and happy and didn't fuss too much. We were so happy that she adjusted well and was able to finally meet the rest of the family! Needless to say she was the center of attention...which she loved! 

Watch This!

Guess what Miss Anayah decided she wanted to do today?!

 

One more time, please...

 

 Did you hear that sigh right after she rolled? Geez, what hard work!

Yup, that's right. She rolled over. I guess we kind of helped her a bit, but she did most of it on her own. You can see she wasn't as excited about it as we were but that's ok. One of these days she'll realize the value of knowing how to roll over...when she can get where she wants to go without us! :)

Good job, baby girl!

Free Christmas Cards. Seriously.

If you've been following this crazy blog for a while you know how I feel about things that are "free." If not, read this post for a funny story. So I was wandering around blog land when I came across a post about free Christmas cards that piqued my interest. Say it isn't so...could it really be true?! This time it really is legit.

Too legit, too legit to quit...hey hey.

Sorry, I got sidetracked.  

Back to the point. Meet my new, old friend  

Shutterfly. 

I've been a fan of Shutterfly for many years now and have always used them to order prints. I just upload my pictures and order the sizes I want. I can even edit and enhance them to my liking. They usually arrive in a few days and I've always been pleased with the quality of pictures. You can even order from them and pick up your prints (only 4x6) at your local Target. So convenient. I really love their selection of holiday cards and this year there are so many new ones! 

Love the simplicity of this one...

or the vintage look of this one...

Since I'm not working right now we've been on a tight budget and I was kinda bummed that we might not be able to afford to send out Christmas cards this year. Well, not only do we get to send out cards but we get some really nice cards this year. You just might see this one in the mail from us...

The best part is that all of you can be in on the action as well! You can get your FREE on, like us. Seriously.

Check it out here

You can thank me later. Have fun going through all the pretty cards finding just the right one. Just don't pick the same one as me! :) Or maybe you'll get distracted by all the other things you can order too!

Merry Christmas!

Time Out

I thought I had wrecked my sewing machine and I panicked slightly. It made some awful noise, grunted a few times, then beeped and stopped. What in the world?! After some investigation (reading the manual) I came to the conclusion that it was jammed because the thread got tangled. Sounds easy enough to fix.

Yeah, that was last week.

I got too frustrated because after every time I thought I had "fixed" it, it would happen again. So I walked away from it. It essentially has been sitting in time out for the last week because I was not happy with it. Well today I decided I was calm enough to try again. Perhaps it just needed a break because it worked like a charm and I was finally able to finish this onesie order

 

Along with a coordinating headband...

Now there's no excuse to not finish the hundred several other projects I'm working on. Ha! Here's miss A modeling one of the onesies I made her while preggo.

Can you believe someone else thought she was a boy today? Crazy people. She is way too cute to be a boy!

A Bit Too Much?

This is what our downstairs guest room looks like as of today (don't judge me):

Boxes, accessories, art work, and stuff junk just gathering dust and making me crazy. Somehow it's become the landing spot for all things that don't have a home. I really want to clean it out and turn it into an actual guest room...then maybe we can actually have guests stay in this room. So, my goal is to make over this room BUT on the cheap. Like, less than $100. Think I can do it or is that a bit ambitious?

Here's "the plan" - I have an armoire that I tried to salvage last year but ran out of spray paint and never finished it because I changed my mind halfway through (surprise, surprise). I'm thinking I can refinish it (again) and make it work in here. I'll make some curtains, hang up some artwork and be done. We already have the bedding and end tables so the rest shouldn't be too difficult right?! Ha, famous last words. Keep you updated on the progress!

Week In Review

We've been pretty busy over here this week so the blog posts have suffered and the projects have been sidelined...oh well, it was worth it. I'll get back to it next week...just in time to take another break for Thanksgiving! :) Here's what we've been up to...

Cheering loudly for daddy's baseball team during playoffs...

Nice hit, daddy!

Hanging out with mommy while she made dinner...

 

Cooking is just SO fun!

Munching on Sophie's face and pretending to be eating dinner with the grown folk...

 

 Mmm, tastes like chicken

Relaxing in my bath...

Where are my bubbles?

Teething...

 

 Teething isn't bad enough? You need a picture?!

Falling asleep on the way home from San Diego to see great grandma who is visiting from Hawaii...

 

I think Sophie is her new best friend

We'll be back after we recover from this week. Happy Weekend!

Drooly Julie

That's a mouthful, let me tell you. Try saying it 5 times, as fast as you can. Did you try it? Mouth.ful. right??

"drooly Julie, drooly Julie, drooly Julie, drooly Julie, drooly Julie"

Anyway, baby girl has started the teething process and it hasn't exactly been fun for her. The drooling isn't the worst thing in the world but the fussiness, increase in poopy diapers (they swear teething doesn't cause diarrhea but I disagree), and pain she is in, now that's a different story. I didn't really want to give her any medicine if I didn't have to and luckily I remembered this post by my friend about amber teething necklaces. Well Mandy (you know, Jack's mom) and I decided we would try it out on our unhappy babies. We ordered our beads from this shop and waited for them to arrive.........this is us waiting.......still waiting......maybe I should check on that order.....

Well today they finally arrived (I didn't realize they were being shipped from Latvia...explains the wait!) and we tried them out right away. I was a bit skeptical but I must say they are pretty fabulous. Baby girl was a happy camper all day, drooling away, chewing on her hand. She slept better for her naps, had fewer messy diapers, and didn't seem bothered by her gums. It still is the first day, perhaps most of it was coincidence, but only time will tell. You better believe she'll be wearing these bad boys from now on.

See my pretty beads?

I thought I had ordered a clear-ish necklace with hints of yellow but they ended up being more yellow than clear. Oh well, it can't all be fashionable right?!

 Sitting on the couch, rockin' my skinny jeans, munchin' on my hand...

Check out Jack and his beads here...he looks like he's loving them, doesn't he?

Funny Girl

Boo!

Doesn't she look like she's about to sneak up and scare someone?! "I'm gonna get ya!" is what she's thinking. She cracks me up. Man, I love this kid.