MY BLOG HAS MOVED

Happy 14 Months Liv + I am still here

Time is flying by...I can't really say I have forgotten about my blog though. I really have come here and looked at this blank screen so many time with nothing to say. My mind has been full of so many things that I cant even compile it all to make a complete sentence. That is so frustrating. That is what comes with life I guess, so I have decided to stop moping around and do something about it. Get my thoughts organized and stop stressing over trying to do it all. I do not know how some moms juggle home businesses and a baby, to me it seems nearly impossible even with an awesome, helpful hubby. Phew.  

Happy Belated Valentines day!

Kiss

Look at how big she is.

So, Olivia will be 14 months old tomorrow. What a ham she is, OMG. Suddenly, she has become this little comedian and even cracks herself up. She starts giggling when we laugh and understands when things are funny, or she at least wants to. :)
We took another trip to Disney in February. Not the best trip we've taken due to us all getting colds, sick or in my case severe indigestion. That was probably stress related too. This week I pinched a nerve in my back which left me unable to WALK. Which I love walking, standing, going to the bathroom or just moving in general- so it kind of sucked. 2 days ago I became able to get out of bed and hallelujah because I could not take it much longer.
Battery is going dead and I am still wabbling around- so I guess thats all for tonight.

Happy 1st Birthday Olivia!

1st bday party 166, originally uploaded by hairgeek.

Olivia had her cake and ate it too, with a spoon. :) Her party was a blast and everything turned out as I had planned. Thank you to all who came and made it so special!

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. :)