girly-girl

Jaqsy girl had a little photo-shoot with her mommy and g-parents over the weekend. 

It's possible that I'm slightly biased, but there's just no denying that the girl is adorable ;) 

 "For you formed my inward parts; 

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139: 13-14

laundry room!

I shared our 'house tour' not too long ago, but I never did share our laundry room, so I wanted to include that today! Not that laundry rooms are too exciting or anything, but I actually do like being in there sometimes. Weird? Maybe. The green baskets are way too bright now, (they worked previously) but they are fine for now! Eventually I'll get some new ones.

When we moved into this house, the space opposite the washer and dryer was just empty and basically useless as there aren't any plugs or anything over there. I had this desk in our last kitchen, and luckily it fit right into the little nook like it was made for it! My dad and Rob built and painted the shelves, and voila! A place to store crafting supplies, extra cleaning stuff and my cook-books.

Our pantry isn't huge, so I'm glad we have this little place to catch all the stuff you don't really know what else to do with. And as a bonus, our printer and school supply junk doesn't have to take up room in a bedroom...glad for that!

 My friend Cassi and I painted this desk last summer. I still love the way it turned out! To cover the old, leather seat cushion, I stapled a kitchen hand towel from Target around it. Easy! And of course, you have to have a cork-board to collect invitations, cards, and pictures.

 Got this little ditty at Ikea. LOVE IT!

 And the actual laundry space...exciting stuff ;) 

All we really did over here was hang the basic wire rack for hang-drying clothes and of course, more storage on top! The ironing board is hanging on 2 simple hooks from Lowe's. Love that it's not sitting on the floor any more for some reason!

 I love jars and baskets, so this is a perfect way to store simple necessities.

We have also changed the guest bathroom, so I'll be sharing that soon! I love freshening things up in our home to make you really love it again. If there's one thing I've learned about home-ownership, it's that it's always a work in progress! So fun!

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

WILW

I haven't done a WILW post in forever! Here goes...

I'm loving all of the kind words I received via blogger, facebook and e-mail on my post from Friday! Thank you ladies for your encouraging words. It's so nice to know that we can relate to one another and uplift each other!

I'm loving KIND granola! It's definitely the best gluten-free granola I've found. Yummy!

I'm loving this sweet children's book. It makes me tear up every time I read it to Jaqs.

I'm loving this Dove Nourishing Oil Care Detangling Spray. My hair is always so tangled after a shower, so this makes it a lot better! Also, I thought I was a shedder before, but now...wow. I don't know how I have any hair left! I'd always heard about the post-partum shedding, and I thought I was in the clear, but it started around month 2. Dang.

I'm loving my new-found love for stuffed potatoes. Makes for such an easy dinner! Especially when the potatoes are 'baked' in the crock-pot!

I'm love, love, LOVING this angel baby girl. My heart is so full.

Of course, I'm also loving the girl's daddy...he's pretty awesome!

Hope y'all have a happy Wednesday!

weekend happenings

We had a low key but fun weekend! Rob had to go out of town for the State 7 on 7 tournament Friday/Saturday, so my parents came to hang out with Jaqsy baby and me while he was gone! She waited patiently for Grammie & G-Pop ALL day... ;)

 We had a fun little outing with our besties on Friday evening. This water-park is right up the road from our house, but we'd never been. It was so much fun! I think we'll be regulars next Summer when our girl will enjoy it a little more!

 She made a couple trips around the lazy river with mommy, and she was pooped!

Sweet thing took a 30 minute nap on me and was ready for a little more fun. She seemed to enjoy the water, but she was not a fan of being splashed by bigger kids!

 My parents arrived just in time for bath and bedtime.

Saturday's mission was to find what we needed to makeover our 'guest' bathroom. It was pretty dark in there, so I wanted to lighten it up and make it a little more kid friendly since it will eventually be Jaqs' bathroom. My mom and I were successful in finding just about everything we needed! I still need to add a few more accessories, then I'll share it. I love it!

While I was in 'DIY' mode I made a few headbands for the girl. They were so simple and took all of 5 minutes to make, so I think I'll be doing plenty more of these in different colors! I'll have to scour Pinterest to find more ideas ;)

Rob came home Saturday afternoon, so we all had dinner that night and just hung out.

Mom and I ran a couple errands on Sunday before we had lunch, then they had to go back home. That's always sad! The weekends go by WAY too fast.

Our family of 3 just spent the rest of the day hanging out and enjoying time together while we still had it. Rob is back to work now, so our days will be a little different! We'll miss him!

I picked this onesie up a few weeks ago because I knew Rob would LOVE it. That he did. So proud of his little Under Armour girl! And by the way...that's a 6-9 month onesie...WHAT?!

 And on a random note, I saw this idea on Pinterest, and it works so well that I had to share it with y'all! Put poached/boiled chicken breasts in your stand mixer to shred it rather than using two forks! So smart and MUCH faster. I get those huge family sized packages of chicken, boil it all, then shred, portion, and freeze it for quick dinners during football season. It's really nice to be able to make chicken fried rice, chicken salad, enchiladas, stuffed potatoes, etc. when you're short on time.

Hope y'all had a great weekend, friends! 

I am enough.

Being a mommy is no joke,  y'all.

I, in no way, expected this to be easy, but I was kind of thinking I'd have it a little more figured out by now. I didn't expect to question myself daily or to feel inadequate or to wonder if I was producing enough milk or to wonder why in the heck my baby won't just close her eyes or to constantly compare myself to other mothers who seem to have it all together all the time with their perfect children who are always happy.

Why are we so hard on ourselves?

I've told Rob I don't know how many times, "I just want to be more like you!" He's a (mostly) worry-free type of guy that doesn't chalk things up to be something more than they are, and he is confident in the choices he makes. Me? I cry. That's how I handle things apparently...I cry. Maybe one day my hormones will be back in check?

Now, don't get me wrong, I love my baby with all of my heart and soul. She has become my everything and I would do absolutely anything for her, but I certainly don't want to paint this picture like everything is rainbows and butterflies over here because that's not real life. I think that's part of what makes being a mommy so difficult...you only want the very best for your children, and sometimes you feel like you are not enough. But I am enough. God chose me to be this baby's mommy, and God knows what He's doing. He really does. It's sometimes hard to remember that in the midst of a foggy tear-fest, but I know that He only wants the best for me, too. And there's really nothing more reassuring that. Well, that plus a hug from my husband and a phone-call to my mom, of course.

sprinkles

I've had good blogging intentions every day this week, but so far it just hasn't happened! So how about a little hodge-podge to get us caught up on the happenings and thoughts...

• Last night (7-11) Jaqs LAUGHED out LOUD for the first time! Oh my word. Talk about sweet sounds. It's definitely up there with my top 5 favorite 'parenting moments' thus far. I mean sure, I've heard lots of babies laugh, but nothing compares to hearing your own munchie belly laugh...especially when it's you that they're finding so funny! ;) Unfortunately Rob wasn't home to see it, but I got it all on video, so he got to relive it with us.

• Speaking of that angel baby...I feel like she has changed a lot in the last 2 weeks! It seems like she's suddenly doing so many new things---sleeping 12-13 hours (hallelujah!), tolerating, and dare I say enjoying, tummy time, 'standing' and pushing up constantly, gnawing on her hands during all waking hours (gearing up for teeth??), grabbing and batting at toys. I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Babies are such little miracles. What a gift from God to be able to watch this little one develop and learn before my very eyes.

• I love the look of the Erin Condren Life Planners and would love to have one, but I don't think spending $50 on a planner is exactly practical for me. I mean, I'm not really even that busy with 'planned' things in the first place. Also, I'm a tight-wad. I admit it.

• We've been spending lots of time with daddy around here, and it has been awesome. Seriously, our days are so much fun when we can spend all hours together! As much as I love football games, I admit that I am pretty sad that it's back to work for Rob next week ;( At least we still have some weekends before the 7-days-a-week grind hits.

• I'm sure I'm behind on this game, but I signed up for Viggle! Are you a member? Is it worth it? I'm not sure I fully understand it, but I figure it's worth a shot!
• I've been thinking a lot about what I want to be 'when I grow up' lately, and I think I'd make one heck of a professional organizer. Is that a thing? I don't think I could handle hoarder type houses though. If that fails, I wouldn't mind being the next Vanna White. Home girl's got it made...different dress every night, vacations for the sake of the show, AND she doesn't even have to flip the dang letters any more...just touch them. I could so rock that job.
• I hadn't been on Pinterest in ages, but I'm back! And just in time because I'm needing new dinner ideas for when Rob starts back to work. Quick and easy is what I'm looking for here. Any suggestions??

Alright, that's all I've got for now...Happy Thursday, lovies! 

4 years!

Rob and I celebrated 4 years of wedded bliss yesterday! I'm so grateful to be married to my best friend and to be able to share this life with him. It may not always be perfect, but we are abundantly blessed, and I'm excited to see what our future holds!

July 5, 2008

newlyweds!

it almost fits! couldn't quite get it zipped over the feeders, if ya know what I'm sayin'

We went on our first solo date since baby came last night! Grammie and G-Pop were ready for us to leave I think ;) We had dinner at a steakhouse and McDonald's milkshakes for dessert. Those things really are the best. YUM!

oldy-weds

 We wanted to go to a movie, but we're lame, and the one we wanted to see wasn't playing until 10:30, (wow) so we hit up Red Box instead.

We had fun even if we did feel 70! ;)

love my baby and my baby-daddy

Of course we had to end the night with admiring our sleeping angel...is there anything sweeter than a peaceful baby? Melt my heart.

Thanks for babysitting Grammie & G-Pop!

Happy Anniversary Bobby! I love you to infinity and beyond. Here's to many more!

4th of July!

We had a fun 4th of July! With the exception of the year of our wedding when we had rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, we've done the same thing for America's birthday each year, and this year was no different! 

Of course Jaqs had a little patriotic photo-shoot to begin the day ;)

Then we headed over to our friends' house for their neighborhood parade!

 Jaqs pretty much slept the whole time except for when the firetruck sounded their alarm and scared her right awake! Poor baby. She got back to business in daddy's arms.

 We hung out over there for awhile until it was time for lunch and naps!

 After baby girl woke up, we went back over to the "The Circle" for swimming and a fajita cook-out! And lots of playing with the kiddos, of course.

We were back home with a sleeping baby before the fireworks went off, so we missed the show this year. We watched on TV instead! Fine by me...our little sparkler was all we needed! Hope you had fun celebrating America's birthday as well! We are blessed to live in this great nation. God Bless the Land of the FREE!