Firsts, Flowers and Fashion

March 19, Day 77.

March 20, Day 78.
Little mom and pop sandwich shops always have the best food.

March 21, Day 79.
Today you sat on a swing for the first time.  Your smile says it all.

March 22, Day 80.
Easter egg dying party.

March 23, Day 81.

March 24, Day 82.
Vegetable quinoa soup, a must try from Two Peas and Their Pod.



March 25, Day 83.
Our neighbors have named the hill at our dead end.

March 26, Day 84.

Coffee dates.

March 27, Day 85.

I've started a love affair with Modcloth.com, I love that site, so much so that I've contemplated my next yearly challenge to be entitled: "Life without blue jeans, my year in modcloth."  I'am Stepping away from the blue jean and t-shirt trap and going towards bold colors and fun patterns.  

March 28, Day 86.

Today Aunty Jamie stopped by for a quick visit.  Addie LOVES her aunty jamie.  Try as we might to keep aunty here at the house with us, she had to leave for a lunch date, and my oh my Addie didn't handle that well.  She cried for over half an hour, and I discovered that she is now able to open the front door by herself, as she did this and then proceeded to scream for "Aunnie."  I was at a loss for how to calm her down.  I tried explaining that aunty had to go to lunch, and that if was time for her to sit and eat... but nothing.  So, all I could really do was let her cry it out.  Then light bulb moment, I decided to create a sensory bowl for her to play with, thinking it might distract her from aunties departure.  It worked!  Both girls really enjoyed it, so much so that I think I need to do more of these sorts of activities with the kids.  

Maybe next time though, something a little less messy...  

March 29, Day 87.

The return of my arch nemesis.

March 30, Day 88.

Mwhahahaha....

A Moment Remembered on Etsy

Just launched my very own Etsy shop!

Playing Catch Up

Wow so I'am a little behind in posting my challenge photos, but rest assured I am still taking my daily pictures!  So lets play catch up and get back on schedule shall we.

March 11, day 69 and March 12, day 70.
on left: Jeff's "happy we just got our tax return" face.
on right: Starbucks with Auntie.

March 13, day 71.
Hanging new art in little bits room.
March 14, day 72.
Braving the chili air for some outdoor play, warmer weather can't come soon enough.  The girls really "dug"(tee-hee) playing in the dirt.  Little bit worked hard to cover the bottom of the slide in soil while Addie bean filled her bucket and buried random twigs in the grass.  Of course the baby also had to sample the dirt as well, the things this kid puts in her mouth!  You would have thought I was taking her chocolate bar away when I went to scoop out the tiny grains of dirt hidden in her cheeks.

 March 15, day 73.
The oh s#!t moment.  You know, where you're in bed, tossing and turning, can't fall asleep.  Suddenly it dawns on you that you never took your pic for the day, so you race down to grab your camera before the clock strikes 12 and take whatever pic you can to meet your challenge.  Yeah that moment.

March 16, day 74.
This pic was taken 10 days after we sowed our veggie seeds indoors.

March 17, day 75.
St. Patty's Day, the girls wore green, we played outside and I made a sheppard's pie for dinner.  Which my husband says is called pâté-chinois in french, which means chinese pâté...hmm

March 18, day 76.
The hubs built us a new, or should I say our first ever headboard using plans I found on blogger Ana White's site.  Now it's my turn to paint and of course I can't decide!  Do I go classic white or bright and fun.  Jeff votes for a dark wood stain, which looks great as well.  I suppose we could always stain the outside and paint the inside white.  Any decorating advice friends?  I am digging this color scheme for our bedroom.  

That First Birthday Cake

The 7 stages to eating your first birthday cake, oh yeah little bit has them down.

Step 1
Anticipation.

Step 2
Candle blowing, flames are always best left for adults to handle.

Step 3
The realization that you get to eat that whole cupcake!

Step 4
Devouring

Step 5
Sugar Rush

March 10, day 68 of photo challenge.

Step 6
The realization that you just downed a whole cupcake

Step 7 
Sugar coma.

And other details...

Rainbow Fruit Kabob.

The birthday push up.

One

It's way past my bedtime and lately its been hard to find the words that really capture the moments and how I felt in them.  So I will think on it for now, perhaps to update this post later or to be saved for your baby book.  For now I leave you with some unshared photos from your first year, along with other treasures I don't want to forget...

Yesterday evening, the eve of your birth, I couldn't help but remember where I was this time last year.  I didn't realize it at the time but that day, all those braxton hicks and my own general feeling of not wanting to be far from home, where I felt safe, were signs that you were on your way.  It wasn't until 9:30PM that evening did I realize we'd soon meet.

     

Practicing night sky photography.  Mar. 9th, Day 67 of photo challenge.

Oh, to go back and relive those first moments.

You were the perfect newborn.  So calm, quiet, content just being held.  During car rides I often caught you gazing out the window, almost as if you were in deep thought pondering the world around you.

A year of kisses, cuddles and getting to know our Alice.

Who you are...

You are sweet and love to be held.  You're often spotted resting your head on someones shoulder or lap.  Climbing on chairs and couches is quickly becoming a new hobby, and there's a deep fascination in you for the outdoors.  You can't resist but to climb on people who are seated near you on the floor, especially if its momma. 

Your spirit animal is most certainly a piranha, from the beginning you've loved to gum (now lovingly chew) on your people.

You're not walking yet, but you will be soon.  A pro at waving , you love to greet people with a smile and a "hi."  Your laugh is like that of an evil scientist, mwhahaha, and says one day you will rule the world. 

Push ups are part of your daily exercise routine.

Party details in next post.  Photo taken March 8th, day 66 of my photo challenge.

Day 62-65.

March 4th, Day 62.
Today we prepped garden beds, for spring vegetable planting.  Big A practiced her garden watering skills while little A practiced eating veggies by grabbing tiny fists full of soil and compost and cramming it in her mouth.  There were several trips to the sink to rinse out her mouth.

March 5th, Day 63.
One of those days...
You know, toddler wont stop throwing tantrums and being bossy, refuses to listen, picks on sister.  I swear it felt like I was yelling at her all day... oye, I DO NOT like that feeling AT ALL.  By the end of the day I just felt worn out, defeated... a horrible mom.  An attempt to salvage the day with a trip out to buy vegetable seeds and wildflowers didn't quite work either.  Sometimes its hard for me to dig myself out of a grumpy irritable mode once I am deep in it, the only cure seems to be my pillow and waking up to a new day.
    

March 6th, Day 64.
Voila a new day!  We sowed some seeds indoors this morning then headed off for a few afternoon at indoor play gym.  The girls had fun running around, and bouncing on giant trampolines.

March 7th, Day 65.
Took time today to grab some shots of little A in a dress I once wore as a baby.  I love that my parents saved some of our old baby clothes, I will be doing the same for my girls.  This vintage dress makes her look like such a little doll.

Only 300 more days to go!

1st Birthday Hat

My babies 1st birthday is a week away. We are planning on a small celebration, just the family.  But that's no reason to skimp on a little decor right?  I decided on a Shamrock theme for my little March babe.  The first thing I wanted to create for the event was a birthday hat, I didn't have one for my oldest 1st and I really regret that.  I found a cone form at our local craft store and purchased along with it a yard of ribbon, fabric, some yarn and embellishments created out of felt with a die cutter.  This project was very quick and easy to do and I'am really happy with the results.  This hat will look so cute with the shamrock outfit I bought for her off of Etsy.

Materials
Fabric
Cone
Felt cut outs
Yarn
1 yd of Ribbon
Hot Glue

Step 1
Iron your fabric if needed, then cut into a fan shape to cover your cone.

Step 2
Hot glue fabric to cone.

Step 3
Measure yarn to length needed to create straps for your hat.  Glue straps to cone, I used 3 strands of yarn on each side for this.  Once glued add on your ribbon trim.

365 day photo challenge, March 3rd, Day 61.

Step 4
Embellish birthday hat with your felt cut outs and a yarn pom.  You can find directions to create a yarn pom here.  And Voila, a finished master piece, easy no?

Now getting her to actually wear the hat will be the hard part.