Year One

I have kept a file on our computer titled "Olivia's Moments" where I can write down all the cute things she does or milestones. Some things seem silly to write down, but it takes me back to that day and memory so it's special to me.

Here is the list so far. Notice it didn't start until she was three months old, that must have been when my brain started to work again. :)

Olivia's Moments

March 10- Sleeping through the night

May 2- Liv rolled over to belly and ate first rice cereal this week.

May 30th- Started sleeping in crib.

June 3rd- Painted Liv's toes for the first time

June 6th- Rolled from back to front and back again

June 12th- propping herself up on arms when on belly. so cute

June 18th- Ate her first applesauce and oatmeal, did so good!
also, slept in crib for a long time, on belly...

June 20th- Started sitting up by herself

June 20th week- Had bananas, sweet potatoes! :) She liked them both.

July- Started eating vegetables

July 4th weekend- Started clicking with her tongue. Justin taught her that! :)

July 10th- Rode in the shopping cart for the first time.

July 12- 6 month checkup. 18 pounds 14 ounces. 90th percentile in everything. Trying to crawl now. Rocking back and forth on knees

July 30th week- Started crawling and sitting up in her crib. :)

July- Went to the beach for the first time and dipped her toes in the Atlantic ocean.
September- First words, mama Dada. Starting to babble a lot.

October- Standing and taking first steps now. Gives kisses!

November- Walking and getting first tooth in!

December- 2nd tooth is coming in. Saying mama clearly now! Yay! She claps her hands to music now and dances

Dec. Cont.-She is talking so much now! She runs..:) Liv's favorite thing to do is be outside playing.

Birthday Pictures

Well, she is almost 1. OMG.

Amost 1! (Not yet!)

Who stole my present?

Holding onto the little baby in her for as long as I can...

11 months...

It would appear that I had fallen off the face of the earth by looking at this blog. That's what happens when you become a mommy I guess. Here are some new pictures of my baby girl. She is 11 months old already. Her 1st birthday is just a few weeks away... WOW!

1st Christmas...

But, life does go on and so here I am. Olivia is such a big girl now, 11 months big. Such a doll and so loving. She likes to dance to music when it plays...more of a bouncing, its adorable. :)  Livvy loves being outside and sometimes throws a little fit if we have to come back inside(it's cold outside in Florida right now!).

She is becoming an independent little person. Sometimes she will wonder off to her room and find things to do. It's a little sad and cool at the same time. Part of me is happy to have a little more freedom and not having to hold her all day and the other part of me is sad that she is getting older.

My Little Party Boutique has been at a stand-still until Christmas and her birthday is over with. I just can't do it all. I will be making it more of a part-time job next year as opposed to doing it a few hours a week like I have been doing. It's so much fun and I have pretty much made all of her birthday party stuff by hand, so there is not much more to do.

Family Photos

I am one of those people who hate doing this, but since people would probably think I never existed due to lack of pictures it was time for some new ones. Off to the studio we went.

Im just gonna play you guys a tune real quick on my piano.

Her favorite toy!

An this concludes the laziest post in history of time.

A Video Update

Since I NEVER blog anymore, I figured I should post something significant. Well, thats all I got- A cute baby, what more could you want or need? The video shows how much Liv has changed...even over a month. She has started standing up-at everything. She tries to stand alone now which gives me a heart attack. She is saying a lot more sounds now. Dada is most common for her though. She has been crawling since about 7.5 months, so Ive been chasing her for a while but she has gotten a lot quicker. There one minute and gone the next. Oh, and she makes a million silly faces that keep me smiling all day. :)

Manic Monday

Manic Monday: Manic Monday #218: "What are 5 things you want to do in your life?

-Pay off our house before we turn 40
-Travel
-Be a great mom
-Live debt free
-Have my own business at one point

This is me being over it.

This week I am going to have FUN. No more painting, organizing, cleaning like a crazy woman.

My fun list for this week includes:

• Go to the zoo
• Take Olivia back to the beach
• Grocery shopping (when did this become fun?)
• Play with Liv in her baby pool
• Not do anything involving cleaning(I may have to break this one once or twice)

Amen.

& I will leave you with a picture of my munchin cutie pie.

A Week of Simplifying(& Painting...a lot)

It was time to bite the bullet and tackle all of those areas in the house that I hate organizing. Luckily I made it through, and did it all within a couple of days. I cleaned and organized the pantry, Olivia's closet, all of my jewelery, my craft room, and that cabinet in the house that has no purpose(at least it had no real purpose before).

I took an old photo holder(pictured below) and turned it into my costume jewelery holder. I keep all the real stuff in a jewelery box. I used pushpins randomly to hang the necklaces on. The earrings are hanging on the ribbon.

I am really trying to simplify things further by getting rid of things we don't need, and refurbishing things we already own to fit in with our decor to keep from buying something new. A can of paint can do the trick. (Just ask my husband who thought I was going to paint our dog by the end of all my little revamping). I only want to buy items I really want or need. Special or unique things.

The picture below shows a CD rack(turned book/misc rack) with various items. The frame at the top used to be a cream color, I painted it white and found the butterfly clip art online. I printed it and popped it in the frame. Looks pretty cute, and cost me nothing. (I won that frame a long time ago at a church function:) The "milk glass" vase started as a cheap, clear vase and I used white paint inside of it to get the milk glass effect. Using it on the inside and just letting it roll around, rotating it as its drying allows it to stay shiny on the outside and it looks store bought. But, it cost me nothing. Woohoo!

I re-covered this lamp below with some fabric I had left over. The green matches our Living room and I love the swirly pattern. A quick little update to the decor and very easy. That lamp is actually "sticky", it is made for sticking things to it. Purchased it from Hobby Lobby for $9 last year. So, I can update it and change it as often as I want to!

I also printed and framed the little sign in the guest bathroom. Painted a frame from the Dollar Tree with Kilz white paint.

I found some art on Etsy, but decided to do it myself. So, I painted two more frames white and made up the art below in photoshop. Both of these frames are also from the Dollar Tree and have a textured look to them that makes them look even better in white. $2.00 total for this little wall project.

I decided to paint our front door red, again. This time in a different, brighter red. Its called California Poppy by Behr. Turned out great and looks better than the boring white door.

Leila's area got an update too. It was moved to this little nook out of the way. Since Olivia has become mobile(very much so, actually) it was necessary to move it out of the way and not quite so accessible. I think Leila likes it too. :)

My garden got a little makeover too! I made some little vegetable markers from wooden sticks, painted them white(I know, I should invest money in paint stocks!) and used permanent marker to label them. It will do for now. It was free, so it works for me.

That's how I spent the week. Olivia spent the week crawling everywhere she shouldn't be and bumping her head on furniture one too many times. Now, she is standing up at furniture too... Oh boy! Good thing I baby-proofed the house a while ago. Life is good and I am looking forward to the weekend! & Resting....maybe.

Sweet Summertime

Olivia taking her first dip in her pool.

Her tutu bathing suit.

Olivia is such an easy-going baby its hard to tell if she actually liked swimming, she just doesn't care one way or another I think. When we first sat her in it she propped her arms back on the sides of her pool like she was pimped out in a hot tub or something.

She turns 7 months tomorrow. SEVEN. Holy moly...Time really does fly with little ones. The first year is probably going to be a blur that's why I try to blog everything here. And I also keep a little file on my computer titled "Olivia's Moments" just to make sure I keep track of all her firsts. It is backed up on a memory card...can you imagine the horror if my computer crashed and it wasn't backed up? Woo. I am just not one for keeping a baby book. Maybe one day I will. But I did make a really cute scrapbook that I will continue to add to.

So, this summer we have not done a whole lot. I keep myself busy with crafts and doing cleaning, laundry, organizing and shopping. I am not a high maintenance kind of girl, so by shopping I mostly mean grocery shopping. It is much less stressful for me if I live a minimalist lifestyle rather than having a bunch of things.

We do have a vacation coming up in November to Disney. Super excited to take Olivia back there and go to the Magic Kingdom with her, I know there will be some tears when I see her face light up at the fireworks and all the cool stuff there. Its something I have always looked forward to- taking my baby to Disney World.

Well thats all thats going on in our house. I am hosting a party next week for my niece, I will post some pictures on that when its decorated. I handmade all of the decorations. ALL of them. And I am doing so with Olivia's birthday too. :)

6 months old!

Liv is six months old now. Where does the time go, really? She is trying to crawl now. She has been sitting up by herself for about two weeks now. She is so strong! She has tried all kinds of fruits and veggies now. Bananas are her favorite. We read and play every afternoon together. Well, we really play ALL day. :)

She is so entertained by our dog, Leila. Leila is 5 years old now and has been with us since she was a puppy. I am pretty sure she thinks Olivia is her puppy. Ha ha! She is so protective of her. Olivia cracks up when Leila comes near her, its really one of the first things she ever laughed at.

My Whole World.

Home Gardening

Today I have officially started container gardening. :) One of my bell pepper plants already has the cutest little bell pepper growing. I planted tomatoes- Roma and Beefsteak, Squash, Japanese Eggplant, Romaine Lettuce, Strawberries, Basil and zucchini. So, I will be busy over the next months...hopefully harvesting my vegetables! :) I am TOO excited. You have no idea. Will take pictures soon.

Mod Cloth= Love

I have found a gold mine of treasures if you are into vintage style clothing! Oh, if only I were a rich lady, I would own all of the dresses in the Mod Cloth (<---clicky, clicky) online store. I have an hour glass, curvy figure and these clothes look best on me. Oh, to go back to the days when women could be a size 12 and not be called fat.

I just had to share the link. I want the dress up there that I posted. Its so darn cute. Oh, and the sizing at the store..or at least on the items I looked at were for regular sized girls, hooray!

They also have adorable retro bathingsuits. I already have one I bought last year, but I am tempted to get one of theirs! :)

Liv, 5 months old

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren

Sitting in her Bumbo, like a big girl

She is interested in everything! Even the camera...

Since I have become a stay-at-home mom...or homemaker, as I like to say, I really have come to love the duties that go along with it. Cleaning, cooking, laundry... Can you say total weirdo? Maybe. Ha! Those who know me, know that I have inherited this gene from my Granny. We all laugh about it, because it is just so obvious. Most people do not consider vacuuming a joy...but I do!



Well, I guess I have just found ways of making it more fun and less work. I try to keep things simple. I think simple is key. Olivia loves watching me do the laundry- she thinks it's funny the way I toss the towels around. So, while I am defeating the piles of laundry, Liv is entertained too.

I have things I really look forward to doing as Liv gets a little bigger. Like starting a garden next Spring, because that would just be too awesome and I have always wanted to do that. Right now Liv needs me more, so something like that would have required too much time this year. But I am so looking forward to it.

I love my simple life.

To my little love...

Olivia,
You are going to be four months old next week! You change so much every week that I have a hard time keeping up with all the cute, new things you do. You look so much like your daddy now, even more as every day goes by... Its so cute. I even think that maybe you are a daddy's girl. When he gets in from work, you give him the biggest smile and laugh at every little thing he does. I guess you get tired of seeing me ALL day long, huh? I would to!

You are such a good baby, you sleep all night long and have done so since you were about 2 months old. You reach new milestones every day. Today, I thought you were going to roll over, but you didnt quite do it. I bet by the end of the week you will though. :) Just this week, you have learned to grab those little chunky legs and hold onto them. The doctor said he thought you were a smart little thing, and I believe he's right.

Right now you LOVE being rocked to sleep, we may have spoiled you a little... Sometimes you will go to sleep on your own, but thats rare. As I am writing this, your daddy is rocking you. :)

Olivia, you have so many people around you that love you so much! You have the best Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles! You are one special little girl to all of us, we love you so much.

I love you,
Mommy

Tips on Going Green

On my mission to improve our household, I have been searching the Internet for tips on saving money and going green. Today I came across www.thedailygreen.com and I have fallen in love with it. Their "10 Easiest Tips" section is great and gave me some ideas I hadn't thought of yet.
There are a few things on the list I have been doing for a while, but others I definitely want to start doing, such as paying bills online and buying hormone-free milk. So, anyhoo...that's whats on my mind today. Oh, and I need to buy canvas totes from Publix for my groceries. No more plastic bags for us. So, go check out that website, it's really helpful. :)

Dogs are very funny

Earth Love

This day makes me sad. I am not a hippie or anything, but I really do feel the need to try and do my part. I am going to start making recycling a part of our lives, and why should'nt it be? It seems so irresponsible not to. I wish I would have done so a long time ago.
Last month I stopped using paper towels on a daily basis. I have not had to buy any since about 2 months ago either. I use cloth napkins for almost everything now. Cleaning, wiping things up, and for our napkins. Such a simple little thing, but if everyone did it, it might be a bigger thing. It saves you money and saves trees. I know a lot of people would laugh at that because it totally sounds "hippy-ish"...but its true. :)

It's Springtime!

Woohoo! Hello to all of my favorite things I have missed so badly. Warm sunshine, sitting outside, flowers, laying in the hammock...Mmmm. Makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Well, Olivia is going on 3.5 months old now! Good thing I got a chance to blog before she starts college, huh?  I am so ashamed that I havent posted any updates on her. Blogging seems to be a thing of the past now, which is good for Liv though, because she has all of my time now. :) And thats fine.

(First Easter Pictures-above)

She is getting SO big and chunky-goodness. She has the cutest little laugh and her cry is so nasally and small(but her lungs work just fine, thank you!). This week she has started grabbing things and holding them. She is trying to eat everything, her hands mostly. Which probably means a little tooth is on its way within a month or two.

Now that she knows who we are and recognizes us, you can definitely tell that she knows how to get her way, especially with me. She does this little whiney cry when she wants me to rock her to sleep, rather than go to sleep on her own. Liv starts smiling and kicking her arms and legs when she knows I am going to pick her up, LOVE IT!

In other awesome news, Justin planted me a rose garden last week. <3 It's so refreshing and beautiful. He made a stone edge wall around it. I will post pictures when I get a chance to take some. Well, I think I have run out of time, as Olivia is waking up!

12 weeks with Olivia

Man, we have come a long way in 12 weeks! Just ten weeks ago, I was sleep deprived yet so excited at how my life had changed with the birth of our daughter. Now, I am sleeping through the night and able to fully enjoy my time with her. She is an ahh-mazing little girl! I know she is so smart, I can see that she studies things and loves to look around, taking everything in. She has started to reach for things and grab them. She gives you a big smile when you return to the room, back into her sight. She totally owns me.


We just took a short trip to Disney, well, EPCOT. We are 2.5 hours away so it was easy peasy. She was a champ and just went along for the ride. I guess at this age, she has no choice. We spent most of our time at the resort and Downtown Disney. It was just what we needed to refresh ourselves.

Sewing: Olivia's First Dress

Here is the dress I worked on yesterday. I used a pattern from sewingpatterns.com and printed it out on my printer. That was the most challenging part, having to piece them all together. I dont know if I will do that again! Buying a pattern would be easier. I bought the fabric from Hobby Lobby(my fav craft store). They have really good collections there, so its easy to find matching colors.

The pattern was fairly easy to use once it was all together. The dress would have not taken that long to make had it not been lined. But, the lining really makes it look better! The green bow is just tied around it right now, until I can attach it. The best part is this dress only cost around 6.00 to make with the fabric, so now that I have the pattern I can make her a bunch of them! 

Here are a few more photos:

The Back

The lining

Bow

I am making another this week/weekend, whichever comes first. :) Having a newborn only allows me so much time. Usually while she naps. Will post my other dress then!

Learning to sew & other good things

Today I felt really creative so I decided to make a stroller bag to hang on the back of the stroller. I had no pattern, so I just cut out some rectangular shapes and sides and made a bottom. It was really easy and does not require a whole lot of thought, if I did it, we all know thats true. :) Then when I finished I added the embroidered lettering I purchased from Hobby Lobby.

I am going to start using the stroller bag instead of lugging around a huge diaper bag. Babies dont really require that much stuff. They poop, eat and sleep. So yeah, When she gets older, a few toys might fit in there too. Its about 10" wide and about 8" deep. I got my inspiration for this on Etsy, and since I am such a frugal chick I decided to make it myself. It was fun making it too. I would post a pattern for this on here, but I dont know of one. Besides the little yellow cutout paper I did today that is pretty ridiculous and emberassing. Haha!

Week 7: Getting so big!

There is my little sweetie pie. She is propped up with pillows of course, but she has grown so much, so fast! She weighs about 13 pounds now. Olivia looks just like her daddy, but she still has my shaped lips. :) She has started smiling at me daily now, which makes the 4:00 AM feedings much easier and more enjoyable.

                                    

Olivia loves laying in her crib looking at her flower mobile. The best thing we could have done was make her room so colorful! She loves looking around in there at everything. She likes to lay in the crib in the morning time and use up some of that energy she has bottled up. Right now she is still sleeping in her little Rock n' Play Sleeper during the night because I don't want her that far away from me yet. She only takes naps in her crib sometimes.

We like going to the zoo to walk around and get some fresh air when the weather is nice. Can't wait for Spring so we can take advantage of our annual passes. Olivia just sleeps most of the time, but I think getting outside is good for her- and me. We hope to go again sometime this week. Well, thats about all the news I have. Just enjoying my baby and hubby for now and taking it one day at a time. :)

5 Weeks...Getting Adjusted

I now believe that no matter what you cannot be fully prepared for this life changing experience. There is just no way. Until you go through sleep deprivation you just have no idea. I love sleep, I mean I used to sleep for like 10 hours straight. I know I will sleep again one day. Actually, this week has been much easier than the past few... She has slept for like 5-6 hours in a row, which is more than I can ask for now!

She is such a good baby, so sweet and just, amazing. She smiled at me for the first time this week. Oh my gosh, it was like winning the lottery.(Or what I imagine winning would be feel like) I feel so lucky to be her mom. She weighs about 11 pounds now, and is 5 weeks old.

Week 3 with Olivia