7 months!

Damn, I have been bad about keeping up with monthly updates about Landon! I've been good about doing pictures, but I wanted to document his monthly stats so later on I can transfer it to his books...hope my memory holds out! Anyway, Landon has begun to show quite a little personality lately...

We were out of town when he hit 7 months, so I didn't have his cute little monthly stickers he poses with, but I remembered to get his picture! He's currently 18 lbs of pure...drool?! Haha, and of course love : )

He's got one teeny tooth trying to poke through and he's exhibiting all the signs of teething. Some fun, some not so fun : / but either way, quite the adventure!

He still doesn't seem that interested in rolling over and will do it every now and then. However, he sits up unassisted now, although he's not 100% steady and sometimes will just flop over! He's not crawling, but does 360's on his tummy trying to reach his toys. He is mesmerized by the dogs and wants to be BFF's with them, even though the dogs don't seem too interested in him just yet. He reaches out now when I go to pick him up and loves to chow down on his banana in his mesh feeder. 

And we wear bibs ALL.THE.TIME to catch the bucks of drool!

We have begun putting together the playroom! I want to add some more stuff, but I'm running out of room! Guess I need a bigger house ; )

Of course I find tons of ideas for the playroom on pinterest, but will slowly add more as I go. For now, this is perfect for him!

Bloom

Does anyone else feel a sense of renewal and accomplishment whenever you read the last line of a really good book? Or smile when you close the book after you finish it and just stare at the cover? Or when you put that finished book on your bookshelf, next to all your favorites, and let your hand linger on the spine for a brief second? No? Just me? Alright.
I crave that feeling I get whenever I finish a good read, especially one that has so much meaning to it, and I feel like I just got a weeks worth of therapy out of a $20 book. Let me tell you about one of those books folks...



                                            

I've followed Kelle's blog for a few years now. I have no idea how I stumbled across it, but the very first post I read of hers was her daughter's birth story. Wow, if you want to cry your heart out, read her birth story. Not only did her post make me fall in love with her writing, but her pictures started off my love of photography. She's an amazing writer and photographer, and lucky for us, she put it all into a book.

It's a beautiful book. It's about exactly what is written on the cover...finding beauty in the unexpected. It'll seriously make you laugh and cry, but mostly cry : ) Seriously people, go out and read it!

Fortunate

It's no secret I was a non stop worry wart during my pregnancy. It's pretty much a given that I would naturally worry after going through a year of miscarriages. So when I came home one day around 20 weeks and saw this tucked into the bottom of my mirror in the bathroom, my heart smiled. 

This isn't the original and as you can tell it's in sorry shape. It was so tiny and could easily be missed, but Justin had lovingly tucked it there for me. It was meant for me...Don't mind that it came from Panda Express ; )

I never touched it, certain it was my lucky charm. Always glancing it while passing by, or just staring at it while brushing my teeth. Then one day towards the end of my pregnancy, after the cleaners had come by the house, it was gone. The cleaning ladies had unknowingly thrown it out. I was heartbroken and certain this meant bad things for me. So Justin got on the internet and somehow made an exact copy of it, I would have never known it wasn't the original. So I tucked it back where it belonged on my mirror, where it has stayed for the past year. Just this past month however it found it's way into my drawer next to my deodorant. I'm afraid to throw it away, not realizing how one tiny little piece of paper could give me so much hope. 

After my year of miscarriages, this is my reward...

A perfect little man we call Landon. Sometimes I just look in awe at him and cry because I knew after so much heartbreak, this is what God had planned for me. That he had put hope into my heart and that tiny little thread of hope is what kept me on the path to Landon. 

Such a mushy post right? I can't help it...after he was born I have become nothing but a soft pile of love. Who knows why I went through what I went through. But I do know I am a better person and better mom because of it. I know I talk a lot about my miscarriages and the grief and suffering I endured, but I know full well that I stop and appreciate what I have every single second of the day because of them. My heart is full and my life belongs to a little boy now.

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars." -Kahlil  Gibran

Testing testing

Testing my blogger app...

These are a few of my favorite (baby) things, part 1

I finally compiled my list of my baby must haves. I've had this list in my head but am finally putting it out there for all you lovelies to see! Now I'm fully aware that every baby is different and what one baby likes doesn't mean all the others will follow suit. But these are the ones my baby loves. And if my baby loves it, so do I!

Luv U Zoo Swing

Haha, totally not my baby, but you get the idea! Landon l-o-v-e-s this. If we put him in there when he's fussy, he instantly calms down. It has a mobile and has music and swings both side to side and front to back. Although the lowest setting on the swing part is enough, we haven't had to go up swing part yet!

Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat and stroller


For me, the simpler the better. I did a lot of research on car seats and strollers. You know, the kind of research that by the end of it, all the words are jumbled together in your head and you're even more confused than when you started. That kind. I know I wanted a travel system and am so happy (so far) with this one. It's so easy to go from home, to car, to stroller and back again.
The stroller is also easy to fold and go. It's a tad bit heavy, but it's so easy to open and close that I don't even care about that!

The Fisher Price Discover and Grow Kick and Play

This is our most favorite baby item yet! Landon is playing on it right now as I type this, keeping himself occupied! We had the luv u zoo playmat but he seemed really bored whenever we laid him on it, so I went out and bought this and we haven't looked back! Maybe now that he's actually grabbing at toys he may actually play on the other mat, but I think we'll stick with this one. He loves kicking the piano, staring up at himself in the mirror above him, and grabs and bats at the toys. I actually have a picture of him on it in my previous post. What I also love is that as he grows and sits by himself, the piano can turn up and he can still play on the piano sitting. Plus the toy overhang can come off and lay in front of him for tummy time. This is by far my ultimate recommendation! 

Baby legs!

I love love love babylegs! Yes they are legwarmers, but they make them for boys too : ) Landon is also sporting some babylegs in the playmat picture in the previous post as well. They are super cute and keep his legs toasty warm. It also makes diaper changing super quick as well. Love love love these.

Snuza Halo movement monitor

Landon has yet to sleep in his crib, and since he is still sleeping in our room in his pack n play we don't have a monitor for him. Since I am paranoid about SIDS, I found this nifty little movement monitor that attaches to his diaper. It's smaller than you think, and doesn't seem to bother him. We just put it on him at night and haven't had any big issues with it yet. I know some people who don't like it, and equal number of people who love it. We've had it for about a month and it does come off every now and then since he kicks like a maniac sometimes. And a few times we've had false alarms since it has come off. But I'd rather have a few false alarms than no monitor at all. I know movement monitors are controversial, but it works for us and we love it.

Carter's Playard and Changer

This is what Landon sleeps in right now next to our bed. I didn't want to get just a bassinet since those have weight limits and I'll only get a short use out of it, and I wanted him in our room right off the bat. I also didn't want him in the bed with us, so this seemed like the logical option for us. He sleeps in the bassinet part on top right now, and when he outgrows that, then it become just a regular playard later on. Plus, it has a changing table that stores on the side, but comes up and attaches to the top for changing. Plus, the little organizer on the side to put all our diaper, wipes, extra sheets etc... I love it because it's so functional and I can get many uses out of it. Oh, and it also comes with a little lullaby machine. 

Oh, and I also recommend getting plenty of extra sheets for whatever sleeping option you decide on, plus lots of extra changing pad covers. Those extra bassinet sheets come in handy in the middle of the night when he peed on or spit up on them and we've had to do middle of the night sheet changes. No one wants to do laundry at 2 am!

Nosefrida

Don't be freaked out by the picture. This is a snot sucker, and although the concept seems completely and utterly weird and gross, I assure you, it's fabulous! Being a nurse and using bulb suctions all the time at work, I see how irritated little noses can get from too much suctioning. This little gadget can get boogers out much more quickly than a bulb. The first time I used it I got a lot of big boogers out of Landon's nose in one use! So, how it works is you put an end in LO's nose and suck on the other end to suck out the boogers. Gross sound I know, but it has a filter so there is no way the boogers will come close to your mouth, I promise! You will love it when your baby has a cold, and don't forget to use saline with it!

Ok, that's enough for now, I may do another post later on, I have some more favorites I'd love to share with you all. Plus, I'm trying out a few new toys with Landon so if he loves those, then they may be added to my favorites list! 

iphone dump

Almost a month has gone by since my last post, ahhh! But 2012 has been good to us so far. No, I have not kept up with my declutter plan, haha! I did it for like a week and then fell behind. Which sucks because it was the easiest thing to follow. Hmm, maybe I'll get back into it...eventually. It's so hard to keep up with things now with a baby. In between feeding him, making sure he gets enough stimulation, and cuddling him, there's not much time between, ha! But I do what I can. Oh yeah, and pinterest takes up a lot of my time as well : )

Anyway, I'll taking a note from Kelle's blog and do a phone dump. She does Friday phone dumps, but since I haven't blogged in forever, it will just be a purge! Ok, well it's not a complete phone dump because I've taken waaaay too many pictures this past month and well, I'll only give you the best ones...

Landon turned three months! In a few weeks he'll be 4 months! Just this past month his little personality is showing through and he's shown a lot of different milestones.

He loves this piano mat. Lol, he loves looking up at the mirror above him and stare at himself!

He also loooooves bath time. Just this past week it seems as though he loves splashing his little feet in the water.

And of course he loves his hands. Forget the $11 toy we just bought him, give him his hands any day!

I wish I had his eyelashes...

Over the past couple weeks, he's finally recognized his toys and reaches for them. I've been waiting for him to do this, I got a genius baby on my hands! : )

And I am officially a baby clothes shopaholic. My kid has more clothes than I do now...My justification is that there are a lot more cuter girl stuff than boy, so whenever I find really cute boy things I HAVE to get them!

And a pinterest project. I took all my Christmas photo cards people sent me and put them in a little book and put it away with my Christmas decorations. That way each year I can add to it and look at them over the years.

And since today is Super Bowl, I must go get the house, me and the baby ready for it!

Our New Year

This New Years we didn't go party hard, I didn't work, and we didn't spend it with friends. We lounged around all day in our pajamas, stuffed ourselves with so not good for us food, watched too much T.V., played around on the computer and our phones, and did lots of snuggling.

It was perfect.

I really didn't do any New Year's resolution this year. Every year I always do the generic ones. You know, to lose weight, eat healthier, save more money yada yada yada. I would still like to do these things, but I've learned from myself over the years that I do all that on my own time. Making it a New Years resolution obviously hasn't worked in the past, and it will get done...eventually : )

I am however following a 2012 declutter calender

I've always wanted to do something like this and hope I will be able to follow this easy day to day one. It's not the normal every day chores like doing the dishes or vacuum, it's those little things you've always wanted to do but keep putting off. Like the junk drawer, or the kitchen cabinets and under the bed. Hope I can stick with it!

We rung in the New Year by watching the ball drop, kisses all around, and toasting with some sparking grape juice.

Justin apparently is still in the pregnancy mindset, because he picked up a non-alcoholic drink instead of champagne. Haha, oh well!

And now since the holidays are over I'm faced with the oh so boring job of packing up 2011.

Boo.

But 2011 was so good to us. The best yet. Wishing you all a blessed 2012!

Beauty review

One thing I love about reading blogs is when people recommend beauty products. I am a make-up and beauty product freak. I love trying new tips and make-up, but when I find a skin and hair care product I love, I usually stick with it. Gets kind of expensive, that's why I take advantage of whenever Sephora has sales! If I'm not shopping at Sephora, I usually stick with the Maybelline brand. I just got some new foundation from Maybelline I've been trying out, along with some new brushes. If I love them, I will post about it!

Anyway, I have two products that I want to gush about on here. One I've been using forever, and the other I just started using.

Haha, just realized the one I said I've used forever is from Make up Forever!

Sens'eyes Make Up Forever eye make-up remover-

I love this.  I used to use the make-up remover pads from like Neutrogena, but I'd go through them in no time and it would irritate my skin by rubbing it. With this stuff I just put a dab of it on a cotton ball (more if I used more eye make up that day) and wipe away! It helps to stick it on your eyelid for a few seconds and then wipe. I still obviously have to rub it but I don't have to push hard at all to get it all off. It takes off my eye make up, mascara, and under eye concealer. And it doesn't irritate my skin after I'm done. It's kind of pricey for one bottle but it lasts way longer than the wipes I used to buy. 

Falsies mascara from Maybelline-

Love love love this! I kind of gave up on mascara a long time ago because I have really short eyelashes and nothing I could do would make them stand out, besides fake eyelashes. I tried tons of different mascaras, including the ones with like a glue you put on first and they are supposed to create like tubes that are supposed to elongate your lashes. Does that make sense? Maybe I need to do a video blog (vlog) when I talk about this stuff! Anyway, that stuff worked ok I guess, but it was messy. I was using One by One by Maybelline and it was just alright. Falsies makes me feel like my lashes are thick and beautiful! It doesn't really make them look a whole lot longer, but definitely more volume. ::swoon::! 

Just a few of my favorite things for you. Oh, and I'm working on my favorite baby things for you all, I should be posting about that shortly!

This is why I blog

So today I had all these great plans to get stuff done around the house. I had dishes to do, things to put away, fun things to sew...well Landon had different plans. Well it's not his fault I should start off by saying. He's perfectly content in his swing, he loves it actually. But when I put him in there he was so happy and I felt bad just sticking him in there. And plus maybe I just felt like snuggling all day : ) But if he wasn't in his swing, he didn't want to be anywhere else except in my arms. So we lounged around the afternoon and when daddy came home after work, he snuggled with him and then I got some stuff done.
Anyway, while we were lounging around, I had nothing to do but browse the internet and after I blogged I randomly started reading my old blog posts. And after about ten minutes or so I had tears in my eyes. Sure it was fun to read about all the fun stuff I posted about, but those soul baring posts? Well I wasn't prepared to read those again.
Posts like this one, where I have a love/hate relationship with my body. Or this one, where I write yet another miscarriage post. Re-reading these posts takes me back to that exact day I wrote them. I can remember that emptiness I felt in those darkest hours and I remember how therapeutic it was writing all my feelings down. And how re-living those posts doesn't seem like the funnest thing to do, it is humbling. Posts like those are the reason I thank God for what I have, and the reason I'm not taking all this for granted.
And then I stumbled upon the quotes I posted. Quotes I repeated time and time over last year to help get me through. Quotes speak to me in a way at times, nothing else can. I love how a person's emotions can be summed up in a few short sentences.
Quotes like these:


"You see, when the almighty Father writes a story-it truly is a masterpiece. One that only he can put together. Though the road to get to the end of the story may be filled with pain, heartache, and sorry-the end is simply glorious. One we sometimes never see coming." Adeye


"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." 
-Marilyn Monroe


I remember I loved these quotes so much because they gave me hope, and if you followed my blog at all last year you'll know that hope was at times the ONE thing getting me through. After each heartache of yet another miscarriage, and the times when I questioned God, I clung onto whatever little hope I had left. And while sitting on the couch holding my 2 month old while he snoozed away, I read these quotes and thought "this is the moment I was writing for." I loved all those quotes and kept on hoping, knowing that one day it would get me to this point. Knowing that it would get me to Landon.

And then I thought, this is why I blog. To look back at different times in my life and either remember the little things that made me so happy, or to stop what I'm doing and remember to appreciate what I have.
I started this blog as a hobby in hopes to document our life. Never did I imagine I would pour my soul into it and let others read my most private thoughts. But I'm glad I did. Now it's kind of evolved into a beautiful mix of the two. If you're following me, thanks for being on this journey with me!

Christmas 2011

Baby's first Christmas! This year we saw lots of family, ate good food, and got many great presents. Landon was loved on so much by so many, and he was such a good boy. He was definitely on the nice list ; )  We literally have five Christmases, and even though it was super busy, I wouldn't have asked for it any other way. The Christmas festivities started off on the 23rd when we went to a Christmas party. I didn't take many pictures at all this weekend which was kind of a bummer. I always have good intentions to take lots of pictures, but then just get caught up with everything else, I forget. But we left Landon with Grandma and got to have a few hours away.

And these mimosas weren't that bad either ; )

 We had fun, but it was so nice to get home to Landon. Christmas Eve was spent celebrating Christmas with two of our families plus we went to my brother in laws gender reveal party! I'm very excited that Landon is going to have a little BOY cousin this coming May!

Our first family Christmas picture...

Christmas Day we had two other get togethers plus our own Christmas as family of three. We did stocking stuffers this year and I hope to continue on with that tradition in the coming years. I think they are so fun!

Yummy Nutella hot chocolate...

Funny story...On Christmas Day we had sugar cookie dough to make in the fridge, so I thought I'd quickly throw it in the oven to have cookies for that night. Well I had no frosting for the cookies and it being Christmas I couldn't just run to the store. I had what I thought was gel frosting, you know, to write or make shapes with. Well no, it was food coloring in gel form and how did we find out? 

Haha, scary picture, but as you can tell, it was food coloring! 

Then later on that night my mom helped me learn this bad boy...my Christmas present from Justin...

You have no idea how excited I am to start using this! I have so many things I want to make, but with the exception of home-ec in middle school, I've never touched a sewing machine. Definitely have a lot to learn, but so far, it's been fairly easy. Can't wait to show you all the cute new things I make!

Our first Christmas with baby was one for the books, I hope you all had a great Christmas like we had!

Pinspired: Chicken Ranch Puffs

I made these at the Girly Gift Exchange and they are so very delicious! I got the idea from Pinterest but played around with the ingredients a bit. I think I may have combined two recipes, haha, can't remember now! I took some pictures of me making them and I will post them, but they aren't the best and don't quite fully capture the deliciousness of these yummy bites.

Here are the ingredients: Oh, and some of the ingredients don't have measurements since I kind of played around with the recipe, sorry!

-About 1 cup of chicken chopped into tiny pieces. I use Foster Farms already made grilled chicken strips since it's so easy. I use these for salads, throw it in pastas...it's so simple! However, if you want to make the chicken yourself, just cook up some plain old chicken.

-4 ounces of cream cheese (at room temperature)
-handful of shredded cheddar cheese and italian cheese blend

-half a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix. You could probably use the full packet since half a packet isn't overwhelming at all, and if you want more ranch flavor use the whole packet.
-Two packages of Pillsbury crescents rolls

First unroll crescent packages. On the sheet, two triangles are in each square. You want to cut each triangle to make 4 small triangles in each square. Hope that makes sense! Picture below.

Here is the cut up chicken.

Mix together the chicken, cream cheese, cheeses, and hidden valley ranch.

Next take about a teaspoon of the mixture and place it in the center of each little triangle. Fold the 3 corners to meet in the middle. 

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350.

So yummy!

Girly gift exchange

Another successful girly gift exchange has come and gone! Every year I have a girly party at my house with all my girlfriends. This years was pinterest inspired (pinspired) and it looked great! However, with Justin having a party at the house the night before then leaving out of town that next day, plus having a baby to take care, I was running behind most of the day. Thank goodness for some friends who helped me pull it off at the last possible moment! I was worried we weren't going to have the food out in time, but everything was able to be served, and was delicious!
Because of this I wasn't able to take very many pictures as I had planned, kind of bummed about that. But did take some, although it doesn't quite show off the fabulous that was this party ; )

Sorry for the crappy quality of the pictures, I took them in such a rush that some are blurry and really, all I wanted to do was hurry up and try the sangria : )

Definitely blurry, but you get the overall feel for the food table.

The Christmas Sangria, one word can describe it....amazing. It was so delicious! And my first alcoholic drink since January, so also well deserved!

These were marshmellow dippers for the hot chocolate bar, so cute!

These were last minute replacements. I actually had planned to make gingerbread bites (which were also so delicious), but they randomly didn't turn out the THREE different batches we tried to make. Definitely was not meant to be I guess.

Here are the candy cane name holders I made. So easy to make and oh so cute. And you can't tell but the Grinch cookies are green. : )

Not the best shot, but the Nutella hot chocolate bar.

Christmas crunch, which everyone got to take home in their own tin. A party favor I suppose.

The tins that housed the Christmas Crunch. (And the mini deep dish pizzas right next to them).

And my little elf, who slept most of the time, but decided to get up for a bit and join the party!

Here is the list of what I made:

Chicken ranch bites

Mini deep dish pizzas

Caesar salad

Grinch cookies

Mini pumpkin choco-chip muffins

Christmas Sangria

Nutella hot cocoa bar

Christmas crunch

All pinspired : )