BOO!

Happy Halloween!

our little Jaqs-O-Lantern

Hope all you ghouls & goblins have a frighteningly fun day!

Congratulations to the giveaway winners, Marcy & Kate! :)

WILW

It's been awhile since I've done a good ol' WILW post, so let's do it!

I'm loving the fact that there's FINALLY a cold front coming this weekend! 

Let's hope this brings the fall weather for good. I'm ready to wear boots, people!

yes!

I'm loving Pinterest. This is nothing new, but I'm on a pinning BINGE lately. 

I think it's the time of year...there are so many fun crafts to make and goodies to bake! Plus I've already got Jaqs' first birthday on the brain. OCD, much?

both of these will be happening in my 'christmas home'!

I'm loving this sweater from Lauren Conrad's line at Kohl's. 

Might have to make it mine soon!

still love LC

I'm loving coconut oil! I realize that's random, but I've been using it for all sorts of things lately...hair masks, moisturizer for Jaqs, and even mixing it with a little baking soda for a face scrub. It feels and smells amazing! Next I'm going to try it in baking because I hear that it makes the most amazing desserts!

I'm loving this quote I came across on Pinterest. It's right on, and it's something I always want to remember as we parent Jaqs and any other children we have down the road.

via

Jaqs and I are both loving her new straw cup! 

She is really getting the hang of using it and is loving drinking water! 

I can't even handle how big she looks drinking out if.

big, right?!

And of course, I'm loving my little sugar baby and her daddy!
(but not sugar daddy...let's be clear about that ;))

They both make my world a pretty happy place to be!


I'd also love if you checked out the giveaway I'm doing below...
it's perfect for all you mommies AND love-birds!

Subway Art Giveaway!

Hi friends! Anyone out there down for some giveaway action??

I had a lot of fun making my little subway art pieces, so I've decided to offer up TWO to giveaway to you lovelies. Hopefully this won't be a total flop ;)

Upon winning, I'll customize the fonts, colors, and wording to your liking and send the PDF/JPeg to you to print in whatever way you'd like. You can put it on a canvas like I did or simply frame it. The file will be yours to do with whatever you wish!

There will be TWO winners, and each of you can pick if you'd like the birth stats or love story file. Of course, if you're expecting and you'd like to hold off until baby is here, that's perfectly fine! Let's just say there's a 9 month expiration date, shall we? ;)

This giveaway runs from now until October 30th. I will announce the winners on Wednesday, October 31st. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Chalkboard Gift Tags

Back again to link my Pinterest projects up with AP for her Monday link-up!

I saw these chalkboard gift tags via Etsy; I thought they were adorable and would add a little something extra to our Christmas packages this year.

I showed them to a couple of my girlfriends, and we decided to have a little paint party while the guys were working yesterday. I found my tags at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas crafts section. They have holes in them already and are meant to be ornaments for kids to craft. I got snowflakes and Christmas trees :)

Only an iPhone pic, so it's terrible quality...FAIL. Sorry.

We just painted a couple coats of black chalkboard paint on them...seriously the easiest project ever, but so cute! The best part is that they be used over and over!

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I also made a few recipes from Pinterest this week; some hits and some misses in my opinion. My thoughts:

*One Dish Chicken & Veggie Bake-this was incredibly easy to make and pretty good considering the effort. Certainly not the BEST thing I've ever made, but I'll definitely do it again if I need something quick & easy.

*Crockpot Cheesy Chicken & Rice-about the same as above. GREAT for the amount of effort that went into it and tasty!

*Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles-these were yummy! Rob loved them. We had them with a honey-soy salmon thing that I made up with what we had on hand.

*Copy-cat Pumpkin Spice Latte-this was DELISH! I'll definitely do this one again. Talk about a money (and calorie) saver!

*Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas-one word: GROSS! Won't make them again. Probably the only place garbanzo beans & I will meet again is in hummus. 

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One last thing: I have a fun little giveaway coming up tomorrow, I'd love if you came back and checked it out! Hoping it won't be a complete bust ;)

Happy (?) Monday!

girly Friday

I'm so thankful to get to be the one to spend the day with our angel girl. Our days are so fun now that she's playing, laughing, and interacting more. We didn't have any grandparents coming in this last weekend, so I wasn't going to get to go to the football game, but my little cheerleader kept me plenty entertained :)

She cheesed it up for some picture to send to daddy and the GGs...

 Then we went to the grocery store, and she rode shotgun for the first time! She was leaning just a smidge by the end of it all. Hey, can't blame her...wore me out too.

 After her nap and plenty of playtime, we went on our first solo dinner date. I decided I wasn't going to cook for myself only to eat and clean up dinner alone (again), so off we went to Chick-fil-A! We sat outside, and we both really enjoyed it. Girl loves the outdoors.

We came home to do some stretches before bath and bedtime...

 Jaqs always gets WILD before her bath...it's like it's her last ditch effort to stay awake. I strip her down and just let her kick, roll, screech, and eat her toes to her little heart's desire. It lasts about 10-15 minutes before she's rubbing her eyes and ready to get in the tub!

night night angel!

Once J was in bed, it was time for momma to cheer on the Cats via internet radio. I missed my girls, so I sent them this picture at one particularly frustrating part of the game:

I mean if I'm going to be spending a Friday night alone, I might as well get all ugly with a mud-mask and an eyebrow wax, right? Ha!

Anyway, thankfully the Cats pulled off another win! WHOOOOOP!

I've dreamt of these girly days with a little side-kick for a long time, and I'm so grateful God has blessed me with way more than I would ever deserve. I'm also thankful for my hard working hubby that keeps me home with that cutie pie :) 

This is the good life.

baby fall/winter favorites

I've always been an Old Navy fan, but now with Jaqs in the picture, that place is even more dangerous for Rob me. They have the most adorable baby clothes for girls and boys alike in  my opinion! Throw a little Baby Gap in the picture, and you can have one stylin' wardrobe for wee ones in no time.

These are a few of my current favorites.
Baby skinny cords? Polka dots? Leopard? Fringed moccasins? Cardigans?
AH! I'm dying from all the CUTE.

Minnetonka Moccasin Side Zip Double Fringe Boots
Old Navy Quilted Frost Free Vests For Baby
Old Navy Foil Sequin Tees For Baby
Gap Dot Cardigan
Gap Intarsia Tunic Sweater
Gap Legging Cords
Old Navy Deer Candy Cane PJ Sets For Baby
Old Navy Sweater Knit Flower Hats For Baby
Old Navy Leopard Print Mary Janes For Baby
Gap Littlest Legging Cords
Old Navy Girls Rosette Leopard Print Headbands

rewind it back

It's safe to say the last week or so has just slipped away from me. There hasn't been a ton going on or anything...just enough to keep me away from my computer/blogging! It was a nice little break, but I've got life to document here, people :)

Last-last Monday (Columbus Day) Jaqs and I went back to Abilene to spend a few days at my parents' house and to visit our family/friends there! It's always fun to go home, and this trip was no different. Our days there are always full of activity, and the time just flies right on by. Let's do a little picture rewind, shall we?

The Pea was a sweet little traveling girl, and lucky for her, she had Grammie for entertainment in the back seat!

don't let her fool ya, this lasted about 30 miles ;)

Our first stop was to see Rob's grandparents. They hadn't seen their great-grand-girl since the beginning of August, so they were so happy to love on her. Warms my heart.

 There was a cold snap while we were there, so we had to break out some jackets! Don't you worry, it's back in the 80s now....ugh, COME ON Texas, get the FALL memo already!

brrrr mama!

We also visited Grandma G (Rob's mom) and had a good time catching up a bit!

My mom sent me to have a night with my girls while she sat at home with the sleeping babe one night. Anna and I had dinner with our friends Ashley and Emily and had so much fun that we decided to continue the night and met up with Julie! I had a blast hanging out with my long-time girlfriends :)

julie-muah-anna

I got my hur did. I'm pretty sure this is the darkest it has ever been, and I'm digging it!

Jaqsy girl got a few snuggles in with my mom's bestie...

 Then snuggled with her cheer girl on the way to dinner!

stinkin' precious, right?!

Grammie took her girls on a dinner date since we were without all the men in our life! Then we went shopping and got Jaqs the most adorable ballet flats I've ever laid eyes on.

big, puffy heart my big girl!

 I was supposed to leave Jaqs with my mom on Friday and come home to go to Rob's game, then we were going to meet up halfway on Saturday to make the baby exchange. Well, when it came right down to it, I just didn't wanna! I haven't spent a night away from her yet, and even though I know she'd be perfectly PERFECT with  Grammie, I'd be too sad. One of these days. 

So instead that meant I had to make the 3-hour trek back home ALONE with J. I was nervous about it because she doesn't go right to sleep in the car like she did when she was a newborn. We got up early (like 5:30 a.m.) and drove back then, and it worked out perfectly. Baby slept all but about 30 minutes...yeehaw!

Jaqs was SO EXCITED to see her daddy when he got off work that afternoon. He was equally excited to see her, of course :) And me, I guess? HA!

 She is always stroking his face, and it seriously gives me the fuzzies. She adores him, and I know they'll always have a special bond. I love that! 

 On Sunday morning we had a family photo shoot that my smiley baby was, of course, STONE-FACED for. Ah. Such a stinker! Guess I'll forgive her ;)

Monday we had our official 6 month check-up with one oral vaccination and FOUR shots. Ugh, they break my heart every time, and they only get worse as she gets older! Now the nurse makes ME hold down her arms. Come on! Turn me into the bad guy, why don't ya? Jaqs never has real tears, but she did on Monday. Her little face was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen! 

After the torture was done, we came home and snuggled on the couch after having some lunch. She NEVER (and I mean never) will snuggle/sleep on me anymore, but she napped on me for TWO hours. I was in heaven. The thought of putting her down in her bed didn't even cross my mind...I soaked her up and kissed her probably 162 times :)

snuggles & princess bandaids: the silver lining to shots

 My tough girl was back to her happy self (with no fever!) when she woke up!

Praise God!

frighteningly cute

Jaqs' official 6 month stats are: 16 lbs, 1 oz & 26 inches long--45% for both.

I think that pretty much catches me up to the present!

20 bonus points for you if you made it all the way to the end :)

Blog Day of Silence

Today is Blog Day of Silence in honor of the Turner family. My heart aches for them. Please pray for Julee and her baby girl, Preslee, as they mourn the loss of Matt.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

Pinspired Style

Look, we all know that I'm not a fashion blogger. I'd much rather post hundreds of pictures of my adorable baby girl, but I like to think that I can pull together a cute outfit every now and then. There are lots of cute trends that I'm loving right now, so I decided to link up with Laura and Stephanie for their first edition of "Pinspired Style."

I recently purchased a chambray shirt that I LOVE and have already worn in several ways thanks to this inspiration picture from Pinterest:

 Here's how I wore mine last weekend:

shirt: JCPenney (similar)
black skinnies: Marshall's
leopard loafers: Target

did you really think i'd make it through a post without her? ;) hehe

Thanks girls, this was fun! Happy Tuesday!

birth stats subway art

I had so much fun linking up with AP for Project Pinterest last week that I thought I'd jump in again this week. Thanks for all the love on the yarn wreath last time!

This week I decided to tackle a project that I've been needing to do for approximately six months ;) Jaqs has had these empty canvases sitting on a shelf in her nursery, and I've gone through several ideas of what to do with them, but I finally landed on the perfect one. For one of them anyway. The other one shall remain unfinished for now. Maybe that will be next week's project!

Anyway here's the inspiration pin/tutorial:

Essentially, I just followed the directions that were posted and used Power Point to create my subway art. I downloaded several free fonts that I liked from the web. I had a lot of fun with it! The only thing I added was her birthplace. I saved the file as a JPEG then took that to Office Max and had them print it on card stock for me on standard paper size.

The canvas (12x15) itself used to have some bright red poppies on it, so I decided to "upcycle" it. It got a couple coats of antique white spray paint to start, then I painted the larger polka dots using THIS method (genius!). I used the wine cork itself to do the smaller polka dots. I then put a gray stripe along the sides to give it a finished look. Next, I mod-podged the print onto the canvas. I covered it twice to make sure the card stock didn't pull away or anything.

I am so happy with the way this little gem turned out! I think it's the perfect addition to Jaqsy girl's nursery! Now, any ideas for that second canvas??

the 'original'

I had so much fun making the first one that I decided to make a print of a different variety for my sister-in-law for her birthday. I saw this on Pinterest as well, but I didn't pin the original link. Whoopsy! I did this one the exact same way and mod-podged it onto an 8x10 canvas then striped the sides of the canvas as well. I think she liked it! :)

Thanks for popping over! Hope you like it!

SIL's birthday weekend!

 This weekend started off on a sour note with a tough Wildcat loss, but thankfully it only went up from there. My side of the family all came to celebrate my SIL's birthday!

My brother and I went to the game together on Friday while the GGs babysat Jaqsy girl, so it was fun to get some time in with him :) We always share a lot of laughs!

Saturday morning was mostly lazy until us girls ran around a bit. A cold front came through, so we actually got to wear fall clothes! It was wonderful; Jaqs & I were excited!

My mom and I came home and got things ready for Nicole's birthday dinner!

jumperoo is a nice touch, no?

 We had a delish steak dinner with all the sides then Nicole opened her gifts. I made her a yarn wreath and a little canvas with their dating/engagement/wedding dates in additional to a couple other things that weren't homemade. Ha!

 We also played some games...Jaqsy girl was even there! See her? ;)

Our big girl decided to top off the weekend by sitting up on her own! It didn't last too long before she fell over, but STILL! She's growing up too fast already.

Hope you have the happiest of birthdays, Nicole! We love you!