Birthday Extravaganza 5 weeks and counting!

I saw a sign similar to this on Etsy (can you tell how much i LOVE LOVE LOVE that site?) and thought that I could TOTALLY make it myself and then I thought that once I bought the supplies I would have what I needed to make Birthday signs for YEARS to come! Some people we like "You can use this sign EVERY Year" to which i explained that, yes i could but i won't. Kinsley will have a different Theme every year. So say she has a pink princess party... this will NOT match, so I will make her a new one. Because I love to craft, and I'm her Momma and it's what I do. Who knows, maybe i'll save all of the signs and turn pieces of them into art for her once's she's grown up....



Isn't it Fab?

Story of our lives...

This little girl is out of control I tell you. This is the story of our lives, always in the car. Going here and there. But the best part? Watching Kinsley in the car (which of course i only do at stop lights and out of my rear view mirror). She has a mirror in front of her that she likes to watch when she's practicing her squawking, i mean talking. She thinks it's so funny to stick her tongue out at herself, and see how close to her head she can pull her feet. Such an entertainer~!



This weekend Chris and I did plan on going to an adult Halloween party (as John and Lorena Bobbitt, HA i know right!) but we've decided to forgo the obvious fun we would have as everyone realized what we were to spend time with Kinsley! And I'm SO freaking excited about it! I'm going to be going to (my first ever!) a work conference on Monday and i won't get back until Wednesday and basically I already miss my little cupcake. So i need as much K time as i can get before they make me leave her (kicking and screaming). So, while you won't get any AWESOME shots of Chris and I in our hot mess attempt at a free costume, you WILL get LOTS of Kinsley photos... which I'll upload through tears each evening of the conference after i finishing skyping her to bed.

So until then... have a safe and happy Halloween!

PS I'll also have pictures to share of the costume parade they had at Kinsley's school!

Guest Blogger Thursday, MIA

So there isn't one, so if you would like to see your blog pimped out on my blog, email me and i would LOVE to have you as a guest poster... the subject can be on anything you like!

Since we don't have a guest poster I'm showing you a very blurry picture of Kinsley. This is Kinsley when i pick her up from daycare. Notice 4 things in this photo please...
1. She's smiling because she sees the Mama!
2. She's walking because she wants to...
3. Hold her baby... the ever present baby... gotta love her!
4. she has no bow... it's always removed at daycare because the other kids pull it out and it gets lost, so she wears it in and wears it out but her head is naked inbetween. Sad, yes, i know... we will all morn the absence of her bow now...

Thank you and goodnight.

Little Miss Independent

This child of mine is VERY independent lately. I mean I just don't know where it's coming from! HA! That was for you Momma!

So anyway, she is very independent, wanting to take care of her baby, wanting to walk everywhere, and insisting on feeding herself. Now with most of this I really have no problem with her exercising her independent muscles but, well... I just don't know if she's ready for yogurt... ALONE.

After it was all said it and done, she didn't even seem too sure about it! HA!

i know guys i know

I haven't been the best at doing these post, but i have a good reason... I started a new job!!! YEA! It was today! So last week was be finishing up stuff at the old one and getting things together for the new one. Now i'm there and it's glorious! I LOVE the people and the space... oh the space. It's an OFFICE. No like I have 4 walls, a window, and a DOOR, that if i REALLY wanted to, i could SHUT! Oh if i could have had this a few months ago when i was pumping... so yea on that front

I am only pumping 2 times a day now. Kinsley is still only drinking breast milk but we're finally really diving into that stash i worked so hard to create. We have also started giving kinsley her milk in a sippy cup once a day so that we can start to get rid of the bottle completely by the time she's One or around there. And once she's 11 months we're going to start slowing adding in whole milk to her bottles too. So hopefully she'll be having only whole milk by the time my supply and stash run out.

Kinsley is also walking EVERYWHERE. I mean there's still crawling but it's a whole lot of walking. She just loves it and i think it's because of her Baby doll obsession. See we knew that she liked her baby dolls but it's really going to a new level. She wants to walk just so she can carry her baby doll everywhere. It's the freaking cutest thing i've ever seen. God i love that kid! She also grabs her baby and cuddles it when she lays down in her crib. GAH! I just need to smother her in kisses!

So that's about it. I'll update you more soon WITH pictures, promise!

hugs from the breedloving world!

Birthday Extravaganza 6 weeks and counting!

What Sesame Street Party is complete without Elmo? So Of course we had to have Elmo's world! This sign will hang over a table full of coloring books and crayons (bought at the $1 store) and Dorthy Elmo's Fish! We've decided that A real Live Dorthy will be present and will be Kinsley first pet!

Elmo always has something in Dorthy's bowl that relates to what he is talking about that day... well THAT day for the sign will be the PARTY, so we TOTALLY had to put a party hat in there!
Dorthy was embellished with tulle to give her a more fishy feel.
Don't forget Elmo!
And K's ever present glamor!

Do you like Bows? we do!

Kinsley's favorite bow maker is having a SPOOKTACULAR giveaway! You should enter. I mean NO you shouldn't. You should just accept your fate that you'll loose and buy your bows and leave the winning to Kinsley. So buy bows, lots of bows... they are AWESOME and Kinsley and I puffy heart Princess Couture Designs! Seriously beyond AWESOME! So go here and enter... or buy... whatever.
Love it!

What I was doing...

I am uninspired to write a post, mostly because all the pictures i want to post are on my Mother-in-laws camera... So rather then posting gibberish and so i wouldn't leave you hanging I'm going to tell you what i was up to a year ago and TWO years ago!
So Two years ago, on October 20, 2008... i don't know... there's no post in my blog BUT on the 17th and the 22nd there is! I think i was meant to look back at this because I needed to be reminded of what I used to feel. My Puppies USED to be my main source of happiness and cuddles. Now i lash out at them like I'm the wicked step mother. They are still just as cute, but now i'm all Momma bear about my little cub so i just want them to fall in line and well, they aren't.
I was also VERY big into my food blog (which I combined with this one to make everyones life easier), much to my husbands happiness. And we just finished painting and decorating for fall! That seems so long ago and like a much simpler life, but wow how I LOVE how "complicated" life is now!

And October 20, 2009.... You know I actually miss that. That belly was so special to me. And yes, it's even more special to have the "belly" on the outside now but I really miss those moments. GAH my boobs are going to start leaking milk if i'm not careful with my reminiscing!

Okay that did it... i need my bean.... love her!

I wish for an easier life...

I was checking out one of my favorite bloggers and LOVED her post and decided that I wanted to do my own... so here's what I wish would happen to make my life easier!

First I'll say I completely agree with two of her items (Dogs not shedding and Starbucks delivery)...

I wish that when you were done with your work you could go home, regardless of how much time is left in your tour of duty.

I wish that I could beam myself Scotty style to work rather then sitting in a hour of traffic.

I wish your commute time counted as work time

I wish I could feed my daughter my breastmilk with out having to pump.

I wish it was mandatory for your job to allow you to work from home at least one day a week.

I wish you could run off 20lbs in a single workout

I wish dieting = immediate visual results

Yep, I've got a case of the Mondays...

Costume Contest!

Please go to Hot 99.5 and vote for Kinsley in their Kiddie Costume Contest! She's the CUTEST Itsy Bitsy Spider EVER!

Scary or Cute??

Kinsley is going to be the Itsy Bitsy Spider for Halloween! She LOVES that song and well, i loved this Tutu i found at Alibye Designs on Etsy. So I enlisted the help of Kinsley's FAVORITE Bow Maker, Princess Couture Designs and she made the CUTEST bow for Kinsley (she even did a rush order so i could enter K in a contest at our Radio Station Hot 99.5) and Kinsley and I made her shirt with an idea I got from Baby Rabies! Our spider isn't quite as good on her shirt but hey, Kinsley is 10 months old, i wasn't expecting it to be the Mono Lisa of Spiders~ PLUS we got a TOTALLY awesome keepsake of Kinsley's hands!
Without further ado the cutest little spider EVER!

This is a good shot of the awesome bow. It has this spider netting thing over the rosettes and then the spider is complete with a purple bead!
"I'M GONNA GET YOU!"

She thinks she's a Mommy

So the other morning Cupcake and I were playing... or rather She was playing while i was running around like there were hornets in my pants trying to get us out the door on time. Well once i was ready i went into the Den to see what Kinsley was up to and I watched.

I watched her notice her Babydoll
I asked her about it and she laughed
But she couldn't get her baby off her mind...
So she grabbed her and started playing with her!
And singing to her
And caring for her
And tried to take her for a walk...
... when i picked up K from daycare later that day she was taking her Babydoll that she plays with there and placing it in the bouncy seat, kissing it (or giving it resuscitation, her kisses are an open mouth over your nose, lol), attempting to bounce the seat and turn the music on for her baby. WHOA what?!? My 10 MONTH OLD is playing Mommy with her baby? She's growing up WAY too fast!

God love her, I love those britches she's too big for!

Birthday Extravaganza 7 weeks and counting

So every activity at Kinsley party is being named after a character. We've decided that the moonbounce will be Abby's Flying Fairy School! YEA! I created this sign out of cardboard (thank you Diapers.com box), pretty paper from Michaels, few pictures i stole from the internet, and random ribbon and tulle i had on hand!



I think it looks pretty magical and i LOVE how the paper is sparkle paper, since Abby is a Fairy!

Do your Boobs hang low?

Do they wallow to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bow?

So my boobs are becoming post breastfeeding boobs because i'm weening off the pumping and by the time Kinsley is 11months we'll start weening her onto cows milk. SO as a result the boobs are not quite as firm as they once were. More like flapjacks swinging from my body. Many people say your boobs are like deflated balloons after breastfeeding, mine are like flapjacks. It's sad... it's so bad that i have to physically pick them up and place them in my push up bra so that they will not be folded over onto their self. Gross. Now i've heard that this is true of anyone who was pregnant, not just breast feeding... but oh maybe all my squeezing wasn't a good thing... that is unless you have some syrup to go with these flapjacks!

So here's my little flapjack maker, eating her big girl food!

Guest Blogger Thursday!

Todays post comes from my good friend Sara. Sara's blog Goodbye Beer Belly, Hello Baby Belly is all about the funny antics of raising a child in Alaska. Sara and I met at North Carolina State University in a Women's Ag Fraternity. Through the year motherhood has brought us closer as we relate and sympathize with each other. She headed out to Alaska to be with her military husband and because she's always up for a good adventure, and BOY does she get it! So enjoy her post and make sure you go to her blog and check out more of the fun!


Babies don't shiver. Did you know that? I didn't.

I've found I don't know a lot of things about the cold. I have lived most of my life in the south, so why would I need to know about the cold? However, now that I live in Alaska, being outside, in all temps, is the cool thing to do (no pun attended!)! Plus, we don't have a lot of sunlight in the winter, so you want to get outside whenever possible so you don't lose your mind being cooped up inside for 7 months straight!

I thought learning to dress myself for the cold was hard...try dressing a tiny little human being that can't tell you if they are too cold or too hot! I have been really stressed out about how to get my baby "winter ready". So, I do what all educated mothers do...I study! I read books, blogs, websites. I go to classes. I talk with other mothers!

All of this studying has been super helpful! I've learned things that I didn't even know, like babies don't shiver! To find out if your baby is too cold or too hot, place your hand on the baby's chest. If the skin is clammy and hot, remove a layer. If the skin is cool, add a layer! The areas of the baby's body that are the most prone to frostbite are the wrists, ankles, and neck! Layer, layer, layer! You should even layer hats! A tight-fitting hat is also super important!

Now that I now how to properly dress my Alaskan baby, I'm ready to try some winter activites with my babe. Like ice skating...just place your baby in their jogging stroller, and skate away! Or cross-country skiing! You can even make your own ghetto pulk sled so that you can strap your baby trailer ski sled to you and ski, ski, ski! How cool is that? (once again, no pun attended!) :)

So, now with all of this new found knowledge, I am ready for the snow! Bring it on!

Thanks Sarah! I can't wait to see what else Alaska has in store for you and Joey!

vent of sorts

So you may comment or flame and i'll publish it. Other post, if you flame them and do it as an anonymous poster then i won't publish them. If you want to say something bad, do it with a name and then i'll publish you, that way if i or my guest poster wants to continue the discussion with you there is a name they can continue it with.

I will first apologize for any misspellings or grammar errors, as i'm sure you're used to in this blog, this post will be worse because i'm venting and there aren't any grammar corrections for venting because it's me venting and therefore my thoughts are not appropriate for the pages of a English 101 class.

So here's my wine worthy venting post of the month. Apparently i'm the only person who thinks a big blow out is appropreate for a first birthday. See apparently i'm supposed to save this for the 8th birthday, when Kinsley will remember it. But why can't i do it for ALL for EVERY birthday? I'm celebrating her birth. I'm celebrating how AWESOME her first year of life was for our family. I'm decorating!

It's news to well NO ONE that i LOVE to decorate and throw parties. I used to decorated my house for my Mom for almost every Holiday, because it was never enough. I decorate my offices that i work in, i decorated for my OWN birthday parties. I was the social chair and Greek chair of my sorority. Am i throwing a party? Well if I am, then it's a theme party! IT's what i do. It's what i'm good at. I'm not good at a lot of things. I'm not super smart. I'm not the ideal housewife with a super clean house and lingerie under the business suit that i wore to my CEO worthy job. I work at the government and i do a pretty good job at my job. I go to church, most of the time and used to sing, until my heart wasn't in it and now my voice isn't completely in it.

Being a Mom and Planning parties is the only thing I'm REALLY good at. I try to decorate, and it's okay but give me a party with your theme/colors/likes and BAM it's going to be a champagne party on a beer budget!

but apparently this birthday party of Kinsley's that i'm planning has everyone is a big TO DO. See it's in poor taste that i want everyone there that has told me they really want to be there. It's in poor taste that i want to hand make all of the awesome decorations so they are perfect for her theme and not the typical decorations. So please raise your hand if you're really not that into seeing Kinsley turn one and i won't send you an invite. But if you feel like you really need one then let me know and you'll be invited to the house that can only hold like 20 people MAX IF we plan on using the unfinished basement that is now PACKED with stuff that we holding until the next baby that i'm not allowed to plan steller birthdays for until they are 8.

Dramatic much? Yes, i am. But i'm also very hurt by the fact that I'm not allow to be excited and I'm not allowed to plan a party that tops all parties that I've planned for my first and only child on her First ever birthday without catching loads of crap from everyone. First i get bitched at for NOT inviting people then i get bitched at for inviting people. I can't win and i don't want to.

I am throwing Kinsley a kickass party. I'm making the decorations and i'm going to make anything else that i need to that others don't want to help with because this party is too OVERBOARD for them. This is going to be a party that all of the other kids remember and kinsley will relive in the photo albums that i create because, oh yea, i'm good at that too.

So yes Kinsley might have an over the top party that she won't remember. It might cost me... ummm as much as a regular party since i'm making all of the decorations myself. If you don't like it... why does it matter? It's not your kid!

Are you throwing you kid a HUGE party or do you want to? At least decoration, etc wise maybe. Do people think you're crazy?

Comment here if you want me to do a custom give away. I will make you party decorations. OR you can have kinsley's (minus her name on what i can custom create). Depending on how many people show interest will decide how much i include in the custom package. More people = more stuff for the winner... AND GO!

Finally, 10 Month Pictures

So obviously Kinsley turned 10months LAST week but i lost my camera, or rather i forgot where i put it, BUT it has been found so now you get to see her 10 month photos! Also since i didn't have my camera this weekend I didn't get to personally take any pictures of us at the pumpkin patch, so once my peeps send me the pictures they took i'll b e sure to post some on here~!

And here's my little girl because she's really not much of a baby anymore.
Oh she's about to get going!


Ha ha, You got me Mama!

It's a little blurry but this is typical Kinsley face! lol

Her thinker face
Kinsley,
I know you're ready to grow up and experience the world, but i'm not ready for you to. I know you want to walk and run and make new friends but I'm worried about what kind of friends you'll make.
Not too long ago you were my little baby. You couldn't do ANYTHING without me. Now you can hold your own bottle, feed yourself, and get to where you want to go whether it's crawling or now WALKING!
I love you sweet girl, but don't grow so fast that the world passes you by. It feels like it was just yesterday that your Daddy and I decided that we wanted to try to get pregnant and now it's only 2 months until you're a year old!
Remember that I'll always love you. Remember that I'll ALWAYS be here for you. And remember that God will help you through anything!

Love you oodles and noodles,
Mommy

Where oh where has my carmera gone

The little shit ran away i swear it! And sadly i doubt i can use this as an excuse to get a new dream camera out of the Cowboy. He's SPENT, or rather his wallet is. See i needed work clothes... if i have to be out of the house working away from my sweet little butter bean of a child that wanted nothing more to snuggle with her Mama this morning, THEN i will look decent doing it.

Looking decent involves wearing pants that don't give me a diaper butt.
Wearing clothes that aren't Maternity clothes (since that was my wardrobe this time last year)
Wearing shoes that don't have a nail for a heel since the rubber has worn off.
Wearing underwear that can't be used to help sail a ship because it's so big.

See i did GREAT on McFatty watch last week, until the weekend, when it all can crashing down this weekend... but we're back on track and looking up~ So the clothes that were already too big were BIG... Loosing water weight will do that to ya! Seriously. I mean it's not like I needed a whole new wardrobe because of one week of dieting, I'm not THAT anorexic, okay bad joke. BUT you can tell how things WILL fit so rather then buying stuff with room for more i bought stuff that would still look good will a little less (yet still nice at this moment in time).

Oh it was glorious, shopping for clothes that weren't going to cover a baby bump. Shopping for pants with zippers and pockets. Oh yes, this fall was heaven! I was even able to buy boots that fit over my calves since they weren't giving real calves (you know the Moo kind) a run for their money. Even though Cows actually have very slim calves, maybe i should do the all and only grain diet~

So, my camera is missing, i'm looking for it... i know i had it on Thursday for a play date, the question is, where did it go from there... and as i'm typing this i think i just remembered where it is! EUREKA! I knew this blog was good for something!


Oh and a very big shout out to Becca and her new baby girl! So glad to hear that ya'll are healthy and happy and that Joey will now have a girlfriend, not that there was any question on THAT front.

8 weeks and counting!

For Kinsley Party i was looking for a way to make a really big and bright statement without spending a lot of money. AND i wanted to bring the 20 foot ceilings of the Garage we're using a bit lower so that the decorations, etc really surrounded our guest. So I don't have a picture of the ones I'm making because i'm not going to fluff them up until the day before the party, BUT Pom Poms! Lots and Lots of Pom Poms
Mine look like this right now, except i'm doing mostly rounded edges
In a rainbow of colors and MANY different sizes!
I want them everywhere!
And you can get big packs of tissue paper from the dollar store!
I can make like 10 of these for a dollar!
I'm just going to string twine between the walls of the garage and then hang these and other things (another Saturday's post) from them to create a really fun effect!

So i know we aren't along BUT

Could you find it in your hearts to go and vote for Kinsley in the Gap Casting Call contest?!?!?

Pretty please?
thanks

http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/EntryDetail.html?id=278684

Guest Blogger Thursday!

Whoa, I'm late today! So our guest blogger today is Modern Mom from How to Survive Life in the Suburbs. I fell in love with reading all about the antics that she deals with that i just KNEW she had to be a guest blogger! She has a great sense of humor and always has a funny story to share. This self proclaimed Modern Mom is a mother, a wife, a good friend, and a person still trying to find peace and enjoy every day. She gave up her beloved career to stay home with her amazing children. She's an inspiration to read about, plus she makes it so much fun!
So without further ado:


Mommy Cliques In Suburbia

School is back in full swing and all the Mommies, they are back! They are putting on their suburban Mom outfits and venturing out of their cars for after school pickups. It's time to say Hello to everyone, and get caught up on those we have lost touch with over the short hot summer. As I float from group to group of Mommies I have a revelation. I am smack in the middle of a jungle of cliques. The Mommies, they have divided!

Some of the way way post high school cliques I noticed this fine fall day:

Granola Bar Mommies
-health food eating, only organic, save the earth, never use a plastic bag, gave up my car and bike freakin everywhere!

Fashionista Mommies
-can only shop "Down Town", are perfectly made up, never chip a nail and wear ONLY designer clothes

Sporty Mommies
-teach their own aerobic classes, wear cute yoga pants and hoodies everywhere, have their own walking clubs and have a date set for their next marathon

The Super Gossips
-self explanatory. Super dangerous. Consider yourself warned.

The Too Familiar with Other Moms Husbands Mommies
-sadly this group is growing. Gross. If he is married, Keep. Your. Hands. Off.

The Slutty Moms
-closely related to the above group.
-wears shorty shorts, enjoys skin tight jeans and low cut bar shirts every day, thinks she is still 19, may have just had some "Summer Surgery". I certainly don't remember those stripper boobs being there last spring. Neither does my Hubby. Ha

The Never Gets Out of Her Car Mommies
-seriously-who are you? Mysterious dark sunglasses, tinted windows, drops off, picks up, no one has ever seen you, you never volunteer for a thing? We don't bite!

The Uber Volunteer Mommies
-have their hands in everything, the ultimate kiss a**, driving the teachers nuts, always at the school Moms.

The I'm Better Then You Mommies
-nose turned up, opinionated but not helpful, pushy, often leads to play dates from hell, always has a job more important then you.
-as a bonus, clearly has a child smarter, prettier, more talented then yours.

The Live Only For My Kids Mommies
-live and die by the kids schedule, come and sit in the car and watch the kids at recess to make sure they are Okay, take them home for every lunch, never do anything for themselves!
(Okay so that is just one Mommy I know of, but thought she deserved a mention!)

The Executive Mommies
-the lawyers, doctors, V.P.'s, head researchers ...the suits

The Give You the Shirt Off their Backs Mommies
-these women would give you anything you need, help you any way they can, stuck for a sitter? sick kid? need a car pool? an ear? lovable, squishy, big hearted Mommies

This list just begins to scratch the surface of the Mommy cliques. There are probably as many different cliques as there are people.

What I have learned. If you are going to survive life in the Suburbs, you have to accept that there are some super scary Mama's out there. Avoid them! The good news, it turns out the suburbs are also full of some of the most sincere caring and loving women on the planet. Women just like you. Struggling to get through this life, and enjoy a little laughter along the way.


Did you like what you read, go and check her out on her blog and Twitter!

THIS is happiness

To my husband these pictures represent a mess. They represent things that we need to clean up and get done before we can relax. To me, though, these pictures represent happiness. These are proof that we have an amazing, happy and loved daughter. These pictures show that she lives here and that we are a family. It shows that she's on the move, since the toys are EVERYWHERE, and it shows that we have more important things to do then run around after her picking up every toy that she's just going to take right back out.

This toy below... one of her favorites. It goes to this other toy but she likes JUST this piece because she can shake it in her hand and it makes a noise as its head goes up and down. She LOVES its.
This is also very entertaining... anything that makes noise makes her happy!
Part of her new Little Peoples car, great for eating!
Random book that she likes to taste and take with her as she tries to escape the dogs.
The toy corner, notice EVERYTHING makes noise, including the baby doll.

This is love. No not the amount or type of toys she has (even though i do get most from the consignment shop or totswaps!)... the fact that she knows her space, is learning t get around and that she has made this house a home. A lived in home!

It's Fall Ya'll!

So we busted out the skeleton PJs and the Halloween shirts! Sweet!

K is casting a spell on her Daddy!