I took a couple quick photos of Olivia for Easter even though it's not for a couple weeks!

It was a lot of fun and the weather was seriously beautiful. 

Kinda weird, but I didn't get many photos of Olivia actually smiling.

Every time we put her eggs on the ground to take pictures she put them right back in the basket!

I can't wait to take more photos, this practice has been so so great.

Little details. :3

 (Click photos to make them bigger)

Hope you guys enjoyed these photos of Olivia, I wish I had more props-but since this is just something I do for fun in my free time I don't have a reason to buy a bunch of random things. 

12.19.14

So, I finally got to use my camera more. A lot more, actually. This Friday we went to Chuck E Cheese in Dallas. Which was actually exciting cos the last time we were there I was pregnant, so Olivia got to enjoy it a bit more. ;)
I'm finally setting aside some time(very quickly)to share some photos with you guys.
It probably would have been more fun for Olivia had she been able to walk, and if they had an area for her to play, but all they had was games. And I'm not so sure I'd feel safe with her wandering around-with me behind of course. Kids tend to be very pushy..
Anyways, here are a few very cute photos of Olivia

This was us just sitting at the table, right after finishing pizza

Her first ride! She was a bit wobbly, and was paying more attention to the other kids running around

Which one is Olivia?

She was a little weary of her passenger but I think she enjoyed his company

There aren't very many, or any, games that she can play-but this one caught her attention

Oh this one kills me, she looks like a toddler more than a baby :(

 

For some reason, she wouldn't even try to grab the ball, she preferred slapping the machine

As a parent, I'm realizing how hard it is not to just choose every single picture of her. *insert emoji hysterically crying*

I saved the best for last, she clearly had no idea what she was supposed to do.

I hope you guys enjoyed these pictures we snapped of Olivia's very first Chuck E Cheese visit!

DIY baby pillow

So Olivia has pretty much grown out of using receiving blankets. Which is pretty sad for me, it means she's growing up. :( Anyways, I've noticed that she started using her boppy as a pillow. So this morning I put her sheets and her pillow in the washer(she got cookie all over them)well, the pillow didn't survive. The washer created a huge hole in it. So I decided to put those old blankets to use and I made a pillow for her. This is my first DIY on here so please be nice, I'm just a normal mom trying to be crafty and help my baby girl out haha.

So what I used was a pair of scissors, a receiving blanket, the cotton from her boppy, and a sewing machine. Even if you don't have a sewing machine you could definitely do it by hand since it isn't a huge project. But since I have one I figured I may as well put it to use considering its been a while.

Okay, so first I went ahead and folded the blanket in half with the pattern facing itself(down)

after I straightened it out, I cut the sides a little shorter so the pillow wasn't super long

then I went ahead and pinned the sides down so they wouldn't move around while I was sewing. I pinned them about an inch from the edge so my needle wouldn't hit the pin, I've had that happen and the needle has broken and hit me in the face, I was very traumatized. Leave a slit in the middle of one of the sides open, you'll need to flip the pattern inside out later on and if you sew it all the way around you won't be able to

I go ahead and start sewing, don't forget to back stitch the corners! I stuck a little green note on my machine since I have such a terrible memory, if you're doing this by hand just make sure to go back over the corners until they're secure.

This is the little slit I left open so I could turn it inside out like this

once you turn it inside out, you can go ahead and start putting the cotton in if you're happy with how it looks

now that the cotton is in there and it's as fluffy as I want it I can go ahead and stitch it shut, you can do this by hand or with your machine. Try to get as close to the edge as possible since this will be visible. 

Cut off any excess string and fabric and you're done! Olivia's first pillow and it was made out of one of her own blankets. She was so excited when I gave it to her. I'm excited to see her use it and carry it around. And it feels good knowing I can do this for my baby girl. Not only is it her first pillow made out of her baby blanket, her mom made it! 

I hope this was somewhat helpful.

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I've just sat down and posted on here. Here's a slight update;

We're currently setting money aside for Christmas presents, slowly shopping here and there. And, shopping for Olivia's birthday party! Which will be here at the house in a few months. It's been pretty crazy. This is what Jose is getting me for Christmas:

You can get it here from Best Buy.

And to go along with it, he's also getting this

Which you can get here from Storenvy!

I'm so so excited to get it. I'll be able to take my own pictures whenever I want. And I finally get to learn how to take pictures haha. I should have it around the end of November. I'm holding out to see if they'll go down a bit on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. If not, I'll just drive over to Best Buy and pick one up. 

OH, big news, I got contacts today! I was actually super scared to get them for a long time hahah. And I'm sure the girl helping me thought I was super weird cos I was like too scared to take them out and had her take them out of my eye hahah. But I'm so happy, I actually feel like doing my makeup now and putting effort into how I look. I usually take my glasses off when I take pictures anyways so if you don't know me in real life you probably don't realize that I wear my glasses 24/7. I'm still kinda dizzy since my eyes are still adjusting. But if they don't comfortably adjust by next Tuesday I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can get a different prescription or brand. 

I hope you guys had a fun and safe Halloween. I stayed home with my husband, baby, and had a friend come over. Essentially, I did absolutely nothing. But it was nice. Everything has been incredibly hectic around here.

I feel like these next few months are gonna fly by. Or I hope. I'm ready to watch my baby girl open presents on Christmas morning. And then watch her open gifts on her birthday. The end of this year is going to be non-stop for us. But it's gonna be so nice when we're finally able to rest in February haha. 

What inspires me?

I get inspired from nearly everything around me. I think the most inspiration comes from other bloggers. One can post something as simple as a picture of a candle and tea. Those seem to go hand-in-hand. I currently have my eucalyptus spearmint candle form Bath & Body works burning. Its part of the aromatherapy collection. Stress relief to be exact.

I get decoration inspiration if someone posts a picture of their desk setup. Or their living room. I love to see how people organize their things. Then I like to imagine what I would change if those things belonged to me. It actually inspires me to clean my house and rearrange. Whether I do it or not is a different story though. ;)

I get style inspiration from Instagram mostly. I know that a lot of people like to shy away from whatever is "trendy", but why? Is it to be different? Or because you really don't like the trend? The things that I've seen become trendy lately have actually been pretty cute. But that's my own personal opinion.

I get writing inspiration from other bloggers like I said. After I read a post, it always makes me realize how passionate I was about writing and how bad I wanted to do it. I guess that's why I've picked this up.

I have this friend, Carrie,

beautiful from the inside out. She inspires me to go outdoors and experience nature. To always adventure and expose myself to as much as I can. Challenge myself. To have faith in something, trust, find something to believe in. Something to fight for. And of course, find the best in everyone.  Carrie has been my best friend for quite some time now. I love her so so much and I can actually see us being life long friends. She has the biggest heart in the entire universe. She travels the world and conquers her fears. Who wouldn't want a badass friend like that? She's seriously so amazing and I hope one day you get to meet her. I always get so sad when she tells me the country/continent she's going to next. But I'm also so happy for her cos I know its what she really wants and deserves. And she knows we'll be here waiting for her as soon as she gets back.

The next person that inspires me is actually Sherri DuPree-Bemis.

I don't know her as well as I'd like. I actually first heard of her from a girl I worked with at Barnes & Noble a few years ago. Who also happens to be her new sister in-law! Karsyn recently married into the DuPree family! I had always seen people I knew "like" her pictures on Instagram, but I had no idea who she was. Turns out she's this incredibly sweet and humble woman that lives a few blocks down from me. I met Sherri at a cafe called Tazza while Karsyn and I were catching up. After that I started listening to her band, Eisely, wowza. I spent my entire pregnancy learning every single lyric.(Don't quiz me, I have a bad memory) Even listened to them on our way home from the hospital! Anyways, Sherri inspires me cos lets just be honest, she may as well be Superwoman. She's living my dream life, with a few tweaks. She's so creative, if I could harness like half of her drawing talent I would be content. I've always loved art and took it for years in school. I was never any good, but that didn't stop me. She could dye her hair any color in the world and it would look amazing on her. She dresses her daughter insanely cute. And she still finds time to make it seem like her and her husband are in their "honeymoon stage". Who said it doesn't last forever? How does she do it all? Her house(what I've seen from pictures)looks like its from a magazine called "warm and cozy". And to top it all off, her personality is one of a kind. I really really admired her while I was pregnant, it was SO hard feeling good about how I looked while I was pregnant and Sherri just lit up. Granted, she absolutely loved being pregnant, and I was ready to pop my baby out haha. But she was just so positive and it just made me see/enjoy the remainder of my pregnancy. I was lost and felt alone and I messaged her and she was just so encouraging and ugh, she was the sweetest.

Last but not least, my family. Some of you may or may not know, I am married. I have been for two years now. My husband and I have a beautiful baby girl. These two probably inspire me the most. Olivia, you inspire me each and every day.

I'm always thinking about your future. How I want to raise you, how I want you to behave, how I want to manage things, how I want our relationship to be. You inspire me not to worry. To take life as it comes and not plan so far ahead. To just enjoy what's in front of me. Which we all know, I never do cos I worry about tomorrow. -sorry!- You inspire me to be the best mom I can be. I really am trying, baby love.

Jose, we've been through hell and back together.

I can't tell if you inspire me more or push me. ;) You make me want to be a better wife. Who knows how much longer I can say "I'm new to this" to stop an argument. You inspire me to be more positive, although I'm not sure that'll ever happen. You inspire me to be more patient. To be willing to learn. To stop being afraid. To be honest. To keep to myself. And above all, to remain myself. I'm easily influenced, and you know that more than anyone. And I just want to thank you for allowing me to experiment with different styles and mindsets, cos you know I've just been trying to find myself. I hope I'm just as accepting as you are. I love you.

Olivia is 8 months

Ah, how nice. My baby can finally sit herself up, and do an army crawl. She's mobile! Sorta. She hasn't learned to bring her tummy off the floor but we'll get there. I'm in no rush at all. At 8 months, Olivia loves water in a sippy cup, cereal snacks, cookie snacks, yogurt snacks, sweet potato gerber, all fruit gerber, chicken and gnocchi soup from Olive Garden and beans! Its been amazing watching this kid grow. Every day my heart grows more and more with the love I have for her. Unfortunately she has learned of the iPhone. And she's not easily fooled! She knows a fake phone from a real one. Another reason I need to lay off the phone, Olivia grabs it every chance she gets. I think its time to break out the books and start reading to her. She has an appointment in the middle of October so we'll find out how much she weighs. She's turned into a lil chunk, that's for sure. I forgot to mention that she also loves babies! She's so playful and giggles so much any time a baby is around. It is so precious.

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of my little queen. She's so silly like her daddy. Ah, I miss her so much I may just wake her up from her nap! ;)

Olivia is 4 months.

Olivia is now 4 months. After 6 weeks I never kept up with how many weeks she was. And after a year, I won't be keeping up with months, it's just unnecessary. She loves fruit in her little mesh bag, she loves oatmeal in her bottle, she loves baby food-vegetables only. She tries to laugh but can only open her mouth to make a little grunt. She gets shy and likes to pull the blanket over her face. Tonight is the first night that she'll be sleeping in her room all by herself. And I know its much harder for me than her. I won't be able to look over at her and say "Goodmorning, eyeballs." Or wake up in the middle of the night and look over and see her sound asleep, or wake up to her kicking her little legs in the morning waiting for me to wake up and pull her into bed with us. But it'll be nice not having baby things all over my room.

I can't wait for her to learn how to roll over and sit up on her own. What I'm NOT ready for is standing and crawling. She can take as long as she wants doing that.