Hayden - 5 mos & 6 mos

My baby girl isn't so baby anymore and now I almost want another tiny newborn.. almost. but not yet.

- She's eating baby oatmeal and pears that I made her everyday now. I need to add a vegetable and a 2nd feeding to her day but it has been way harder to be regular with her one feeding than I thought it would be. Problem is it has nothing to do with her and everything to do with how well I feed myself.. I sadly usually skip lunch and often times breakfast consists of coffee..

- We feel like she will start crawling at any moment but for the time being she prefers pushing her self backwards or into a push-up position. 

- She has been sitting almost completely without help for a while now I have to keep my eye on her though because she likes to lean back and we unfortunately have hardwood floors (yes, unfortunately I am one person that actually prefers carpet). 

- Hayden is rather talkative and becomes super social in most settings after a little bit of warming up to people time. 

- Since the addition of her big girl crib instead of her co-sleeper she takes all naps in it. With the exception of a few this past week because she hasn't been feeling so great from teething and a flu shot last week. 

- Christmas: H's first Christmas was a hit! She loved ripping paper from her presents and then eating it. 

Now to begin working on her birthday party.. Less than 6 months to go. 

This Week

Am Listening To:
-The Digi Scrap Show: Episode where Becky Higgins discusses how Project Life was started and her scrapbooking career.. its a good listen check it out 
-My honey and my baby girl snoring together on the couch :)

Am Watching:
-Vampire Diaries: I just might be obsessed with vampires but this show rocks and um not to mention some cute guys. 
-Biggest Loser: as always I love this show and glad Anna Kournikova<=Probably spelled wrong, is not back but still miss Jillian!! 
-What's Your Number: Cheesy funny and chick flicky but I loved it!
-The Ides of March: Love a good political movie, would have liked a little more resolution at the end but oh well. 
Am Reading:
-A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn: loving this book its a great Christian family reference.. large family or not.
-Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn: lots of great ideas in this one so far too. 
Am Thinking About:
-My personal struggles with fear and dislike.Plus how to let God care and comfort that part of my soul.
Want To Do:
-Get scrappin more and get Hayden to sleep through the night but I'm not gonna bother trying to get to that second item.. lol..

Teething Bites

Literally...

I love my little cutie but she has become this little scary beast that bites and screams and pulls hair... 

but then she smiles at me with this little goober smile that I just love 

- Poor little no eyebrows girl - 

you are in pain and emotionally unstable (welcome to being a girl)

and I love you so much and no matter how many times you bite me...

I will still love you to the best ability my human flesh can

Project Life

I think I originally heard some buzz about Project Life mid-last year and my then prego brain promptly forgot about it. Then a couple months ago I randomly found Becky Higgins' blog and site and became reacquainted with it and fell in love, especially all the new additions this year. 

I originally just wanted to do a modified Project Life book as Hayden's first year scrapbook but then decided wouldn't it be super fun to do a family album every year. Why yes of course! It may sound daunting... but its really not. The system that Becky Higgins has created is as easy or as hard as you want to make it.. I'm some where in between those. Also this year there are digi scrap versions and also  Shutterfly photobook versions. But I'm not into that :) I love me some physical scrap goodies and techniques! 

Close-ups:

Project life is a system created by Becky Higgins to help you simplify how you document life and preserve memories.  It’s a reminder to celebrate the little things.  You can find out more about Project Life here.

Hello, I Love You: Turquoise.. I mean Blue

Usually blue looks a different to me.. 

No, I'm not color blind :)

I just have a love for all things turquoise

So heres to my blue... Turquoise 

I really want these... need more rain to justify purchasing them though

Anthropologie Latte Bowls - they are out of this color at the moment of course

Le Creuset lovelies

Some more coffee inspo since we are a Starbucks family ;)

This Vase?! Oh Anthropologie... I have no use for this vase. I have 5 vases that I never use except maybe once a year but gosh darn it! That vase is gorgeous and I stare at it every time I go to Anthropologie which happens to be 2 blocks from our home... one word - Dangerous.

Okay so my mixer is the color of the vinyl on that mixer but whoever thought to put vinyls on mixers is a genius! and I would love one, just not that color... I think you get what I mean lol

Linking up to Heather

fill in the blank friday on saturday

1.   The last thing I ate was     brownie w/ ice cream and whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles   .

2.   The last song I listened to was    Hayden's Fisher Price Rainforest Music cd...      .

3.  Using the letters in my name I can spell    Emily... Em, Me, mile, elm.. pretty sure the rest of the things I come up with would be questionable as being actual words so I give up      .

4.  If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick     gray because I basically do already lol I have a serious issue with buying things in gray especially sweaters and coats and shoes...     .

5.  If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find    baby blankie, binky, translucent powder, lipgloss, lip balm, my erin condren planner, 7 year pen, kindle, wallet, baby mittens, baby socks, sophie giraffe, bug rattle, blogger moo cards, hand sanitizer, body balm from the body shop, my water bottle  .

6.  When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to    write another blog post  .

7.  My all time favorite song to dance to is    okay I have 2: forever by chris brown and got to give it up by marvin gaye - I literally cannot not dance when either of those come on  .

Apartment Made Home

One of the first things I did in the new year was write out a list of all the home decor projects I want to accomplish this year. I am in love with our apartment, it has beautiful high ceilings and the whole wall in our kitchen dining area is covered in windows that give great light to our living room too. 

Thankfully/Surprisingly I got started right away on the list by putting up that lovely chalkboard in our kitchen/dining area. I'm trying to keep the momentum going by re-organizing everything and starting a new to be sold at Just Between Friends / go to the Goodwill pile. 

Expedit & craft area midway through re-organizing 

The 2012 Decor List

Living Room

• Spray paint my Ikea Ung Drill frame - I love this frame and I'm still debating if I want it yellow or turquoise.. 

• Get our family picture from Christmas printed to put in the frame
• Buy & hang a 12x12 shadow box frame to rotate my scrapbook layouts in throughout the year
• Hang my Naptime Diaries print that is on its way here - I'm thinking I want to hang it all hipster-like with a wooden pant clamp hanger 

• Make embroidery hoop art stitched with our last name on it 
• Order a custom item from my friend Betsy 
• Get some 8x8 Instagram prints to frame/hang
• Paint frame of bulletin board
• Attach fabric to bulletin board
• Make or buy some sort of key holder
• Put out more picture frames
• Make some more throw pillows for our couch

Craft/Play Area

• Add book storage for Hayden (spinning metal rack... wall shelve... too many options..)
• Re-paint for Hayden my kid-sized table and chairs my Dad made me
• Put patterned and chalkboard contact paper on spinning rack
• Reorganize craft area and books (in progress)
• Hang Ikea Merete curtains

Bedroom

• Hang kitchen bars plus hooks and baskets from Ikea for jewelry and makeup storage
• Purge old and unused makeup
• Make an earring frame
• Hang brown linen curtains 
• Make some sort of garland for our four-poster bed
• Finish hanging art for walls
• Purge unworn clothing

Kitchen

• Order Livy Love Designs Good Moms print to hang

• Hang chalkboard
• Hang my magnetic knife rack
• Hang Paris rack
• Organize my cleaning supply closet
• Organize cupboards more effectively

Hallway

• Organize storage and books

Bathroom

• Hang/frame "wash hands and brush teeth" print
• Sew loops to towels for better hanging
• Order a mason jar soap pump

Garage

• Clean out & organize

hello i love you : Kitchens

My friend Heather has been doing these posts for awhile now and just started them as a linky par-tay! 

I am beyond excited to be able to join in :)

This weeks theme is : Kitchens 

west elm

chalkboard/metal/wood

kids sewing basket apron

i dream of white or grey cabinets and farm-house sinks 

coffee always

Why don't you go link up too!

As Martha would say, "It's a good thing!"

fill in the blank friday on saturday

1.   One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is     take a bath or read   .

2.   When I have free time I tend to    ... free time is kind a relative term when you are a sahm because my schedule at least isn't normal and I don't really schedule free time I just take 15-20 min here or there      .

3.  If I had an entire day completely to myself I would    get a pedicure, go craft/fabric shopping, go grocery shopping, and then just read and write the rest of the day  .

4.  I would prefer to spend my free time (alone or with others...)    both, I am mostly an introvert but also need to be around people some days since being a mommy can be lonely sometimes    .

5.  Most of my free time happens    during the day before hubs is home cause its easier to do and play with Hayden at the same time or at night when everyone is sleeping.

6.  The best thing about free time is    that you can use it or lose it :)  .

7.  The next time I have free time I should probably    finish reading one thousand gifts   but instead, I'll probably     work on project life   .

January 2012

Cute desktop background from wild olive

I literally almost typed 2011... 

I'm so excited!! why? Well because January is my second favorite month! 

Duh.. 

Remember, I love a fresh start

Its my motivation to clean/organize/plan

Goals for 2012:

-Menu plan: Its been hard for me to get this down. Since our schedule is far from normal and needs to be kept loose since things tend to suddenly come up. I really only need to plan 4-5 dinners a week but I need to plan breakfast and lunch because I tend to forget/neglect to feed myself. 

-Bible Study: Late last year I decided that for 2012 I wanted to read through the Bible chronologically. I would love to read in the morning but in this stage of mommyness it isn't exactly possible for me. I also want to try to get back to journaling about my Bible reading.

-Project Life: I'm still figuring out what this will look like for us.. Most likely it will be a weekly collection of photos and journaling and not necessarily a picture a day cause lets face it some days are just boring. I've started my title page and am working on organizing my supplies today. I'm hoping to post my pages weekly so you can see our week in review as well. 

-Organization/Decor: We got a lot done on our apartment before and the first few weeks after Hayden was born while Patrick was home but now its time to fine-tune everything. I wrote out a list of all the little projects I have in my head to do this year and have already completed a couple! 

-Business: I am working on adding new product and trying to streamline the way I make and list product. I would also love to try doing a craft fair this year too!

-Blog: First off its been super dull around here... I need to get back to posting about Hayden.. and I also want to really find my strengths and focus my writing and projects toward those. 

What are your favorite topics or posts I've written over the past year?