The Domestic Wannabe

valentine's day via the iphone

2012-02-15T07:02:00.000-06:00

Well, I didn't really plan ahead for yesterday, but I think our Valentine's Day still turned out wonderfully. I had thoughts this year of going all out and decorating for the silly holiday and doing all sorts of awesome stuff for Ryann and pretty much kicking some Valentine's Day butt. The truth of the matter is I didn't prepare anything ahead of time and haven't put up a single piece of red and pink heart decor. Maybe next year?

But... I still managed to work with what I had and show Ryann a little extra love. And Chris made me a delicious seafood chowder. AND we got fro yo. It was a good day. Here is a little photo recap thanks to my iphone.

Unrelated, I have a couple other things I wanted to mention today... Someone had recently asked in the comments if I would share plans and such for Ryann's birthday party. I absolutely will show you all my inspiration and all the details and everything, but I don't really want to do it before the party. Even though it isn't a huge deal, I like to keep some things a bit of a surprise so the guests coming don't know everything that will be present. I will share the invitations before hand, but not until 1) they are actually finished and 2) they have been mailed out. Hope all that is peachy with you all :o).

Secondly, I'm in kind of a blog rut right now. I can just keep posting pictures of Ryann (duh) but I also like to include stuff for all of you out there who aren't my grandma and don't necessarily need a constant stream of Ryann in your face. Yes, my grandma is so cool that she reads the blog :o). Christopher's too! Anyway, I still want to put together a post about customizing your blog design, but I know that will take me a while. In the meantime you can always check out Adeline's Daddy. He is regularly posting blog design tips, and I've gotten some coding tips from his blog as well.

Since that is on the back burner right now, I wanted to know if there is anything you want to read about. It has been a little over a year since I did an 'ask me anything' post (you can find answers from last year's here and here) so I thought I'd offer that up again. If there is something you want to know, or something you want me to post about, leave it in the comments section. I'm not completely an open book, but I'll do my best to answer everything you ask!

Have a great Wednesday!

happy valentine's day

2012-02-14T15:35:00.000-06:00

The sass monster just wanted to wish all you lovelies out there a happy valentine's day. We're having a pretty good day so far... I successfully made pancakes without burning ALL of them. We gave Daddy a little 'I love you' robot card that Ryann picked out. We've wandered around Target and Toys "R" Us and just spent the day as a family. The hubs is cooking some dinner tonight and we might go out for a little dessert. Dang near perfect valentine's day if you ask me :o).

And because I always take a million photos at a time, I have a few more Ryann faces to leave you with:

See? Sass monster.

Hope you're spending the day with someone you love!

snow snow go away

2012-02-13T06:45:00.001-06:00

Slowly but surely I'm becoming more adapt and ok with the idea of running outside in the cold. It really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. No doubt it helps that we've had a fairly mild winter (which means we are totally screwed the rest of February through the beginning of April, I'm sure of it), but really with the right clothing or gear I almost always get HOT while I'm running.

Things I don't deal with? Any sort of elements. Like rain. Or flipping SNOW. And temperatures under 10! Chris has been on vacation since Thursday, and I thought I'd get a couple outdoor runs in before he has to be back at work this Thursday. But the last time I ran at all? Was Thursday. I went pretty much all out on Thursday, 4.15 miles in 36 minutes (8:44 pace). Friday I did the 30 Day Shred because I couldn't convince myself to go to the gym with the hubby home :o), Saturday I took the 50/50 group fitness class at the gym, and Sunday? Sunday it was miserably cold out. So instead of running or hitting up the gym, we went out to brunch with friends. A good compromise right?

And wouldn't you know it, this morning it is snowing. We pretty much haven't seen snow all winter, and the few days that I could utilize Christopher to watch Ryann right now, I simply can't make myself get out the door. The good news is that I'm not currently training for a big race or anything, so I'm not freaking out about missing the runs. I do feel a bit guilty, but it seems like that is the trend with me right now. I know I'm not doing everything I could in the health and fitness department, and I feel guilty about it. But apparently it hasn't been enough guilt to convince me to do otherwise.

I'm trying to give myself a swift kick in the butt though. Even though I'm not training for a big race, I've got plans for the 5k I want to run the first weekend in March. Looking at last years results, the top female finisher in my age group finished in 25:33, an 8:13 pace. That almost 5k I did recently? I finished with an 8:16 pace. Now obviously there is no telling who will turn out for the 5k this year, how fast they will go, etc. But potentially I could place in my age division. Well actually the random site I was looking at claimed the overall top woman's finisher was 25 and finished in 19:14 (ha, never going to happen for me!) so I'm not really sure how to read the results. But if I ignore that she wasn't included in the age division, I COULD place.

Do you know how insane that sounds to me? I've always gone to races with the mentality that they are fun, I simply love the atmosphere, I'm not there to win anything. I've never been fast enough. And that is completely ok. But... what if I could win something? Even if it is just my age division? Simply typing this all out is encouraging me to go to some sprints on the treadmill (except I don't want to drive in the snow, but the treadmills at the gym are so much nicer than the one in my basement :o). Must. Get. Faster.

For the record, I really started to like running when I completed a 10k without walking. I fell in love with running the first time I completed a training run under a 9:30 pace. You don't have to be fast to like running, but it definitely makes it more fun in my opinion.

Sorry for the delay on the link-up, but it should be working right now! Link up your health and fitness posts :o).

project 366 {week 6}

2012-02-12T15:44:00.001-06:00

week in iphone pics

2012-02-11T21:28:00.000-06:00

World Nutella Day. A lovely mama to be. Post nap beauty. Bears on the window. Wonderscope. Avid reader. Smiles for grammy. Goofy girl. Talking to Papa (and Grammy). Asking for a mouseketool to get over the rag. More reading. A childless grocery run. Hidden treats in hubby's car. Shopping for shoes. Carousel! Shopped out. Cheese. Peanut butter & banana chocolate chip cookies. Bath hair. Clementines. My valentine (+ cake).

Most definitely a good week. I love when the hubby is on vacation. Can he always be on vacation? :)

And the picture of her in a diaper standing by a rag? Yes, she literally asked me for a mouseketool. "Mommy! Mommy! I need a mouseketool!" "A mouseketool? For what?" "To get over the rag." "Oh, um, ok. What kind of mouseketool do you need?" "A mystery one."

Oh how she loves her Mickey Mouse.

a day in the life - libby

2012-02-10T06:29:00.000-06:00

Thanks to an e-mail mix up on my part, poor Libby didn't find out it was her week to share on the blog until Monday. But she still pulled through and put together a post for you guys! I figured the kind thing to do would be to give her more than a day, and decided none of you would mind if we didn't share until Friday. So enjoy a peek into Libby's life!

***

Hi, I am Libby from over at Libby's Life. I am a 29 year-old SAHM mom & wife who loves her boys. James and I have been married for almost 5 years now and we have one son Zane {almost 2} and are hoping to be adding a second little one to the mix soon. I am so excited to be sharing with what a typical day looks like for us. Thank you to Ashley for having me visit her blog.

7:00 - 8:00: Zane wakes up pretty much on the dot every.single.morning. I go in change his diaper and get him up, then we go downstairs and I get him breakfast which is usually cheerios, bananas & milk and we turn on the Disney channel and watch cartoons.

9:00 - 11:00: We play, play, play or if we have a play date we get ready to go meet and then we go have fun either at our friends house or at a fun play place in the area and have lunch while we're out.

11:00 - 1:00 - Nap time. Well sometimes it's shorter and sometimes it's a good two hours {if I am lucky}. During which time I do dishes, blog, watch TV, clean... whatever needs to be done. If we have a play date nap time is later than this depending on what time we get home from playing.

1:00: Lunch time when we're home. Which is usually chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, chicken & rice, etc. {the normal toddler type food} with some kind of fruit like grapes, apples, oranges, etc. My child loves all fruits and veggies so I don't have to force anything on him. Usually the fruit & veggies are what is eaten first.

1:30 - 3 or 4:00: We play, read whatever he feels like doing. Sometimes I'll read my book during this time because he likes to play by himself in the afternoon it seems like... well until daddy gets home that is.

3 or 4:00 - 5:00: Daddy gets home from work and Zane gets very excited and they play. Dinner gets made during this time also it's not usually me who cooks though, my husband is the cook in this family {I am a very lucky girl in that sense!}.

5:00: Dinner time for whatever daddy has made or take out if he's tootired to cook.

5:30 - 7:30: We play or watch TV usually until it's time for bedtime.

7:30: Bath time every other day.

8:00: Bed time it is. He goes to bed at 8 every night and it's the perfect bedtime for him. He goes to sleep pretty much immediately when we put him down every night. It's fabulous!

8:15 - 10:00: My husband and I either watch our TV shows or go and read in bed. My husband has to get up at 4 so we go to bed early in this house and then we wake up and do it all again the next day. ;)

And now the three questions...

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
I think the most surprising thing to me is that it was easier than I thought it would be {not to say I do not have hard days! That would be a lie}. But as soon as I had my son my life drastically changed and it has been the best thing I've ever done. I always knew I wanted to be a mom but now that I am one I wouldn't want to be anything else, it's the absolute best thing in the world.

2. What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms?
Don't beat yourself up when you have a bad day. Just remember that tomorrow is a new day and when they're really little they're not going to remember what happened the day before. You will, but if you dwell on it and just keep beating yourself up because something went wrong or not as planned you will miss out on all those great days!

3. What are your top three baby products?
The Boppy pillow. I used it for everything and every single day when he was a baby... he took naps in it, I used it to nurse, and he learned to sit up in it. It was so helpful to plop him down in it and know that he wouldn't be able to roll out and onto the floor.

Sophie the giraffe teether. She was the only teether that he would use, he didn't like the other teether toys we bought for him and hated the ones that you put in the freezer but Sophie was attached to him for months wherever we went.

The Gentle giraffe soother from Cloud B. It has 4 different noises including the mothers heartbeat and an 2 automatic shutoff times. We used it every single night when he was a baby and it was amazing he would be crying and as soon as we'd turn that on he'd immediately calm down and fall asleep. We still have it and we'll occasionally turn it on and it works just the same as it did when he was a itty baby. I highly recommend one of these {they have other animals too & mini travel sizes too, which we have at grandma's house}.

***

Thank you for sharing your day with us Libby! Sorry about the e-mail mix up!

corn, bacon and potato chowder

2012-02-08T15:15:00.001-06:00

Please please please go look at the photo on the site where I originally found the recipe. It looks much more appetizing, and might make you actually want to make the soup!

I LOVE soup. A lot. I'm not sure why but there is just something about it. Especially more of a creamy soup. I'm the dork who will be ordering the broccoli cheese soup at Panera in July when it is 102 degrees. I love soup that much. I don't think Chris likes soup as much as I do, so we rarely cook it as a meal. But this had potatoes and bacon in the title, so I figured it wouldn't be too tough to convince him to eat it.

I'll admit, when I first started putting the ingredients together, I thought, ok so I have a whole bunch of vegetables in some hot milk. Stellar. I'm sure that will be delicious. But you know what? It was. The corn gives the soup such a nice flavor. Don't mind the fact that we used frozen corn and not yukon gold potatoes. I'm sure the yukons would have made the soup even tastier. I actually wanted more potato in my soup, so maybe throw in an extra as well? Or one that has just been chopped as opposed to mashed...

This chowder was good enough that our friend Chris, who generally gives vegetables and anything besides pizza or chicken tenders the side eye, ate two whole bowls. I was astonished! Did you hear that Jennifer?? Chris pretty much ate two bowls of vegetables. Impressive!

Overall I highly recommend this dish. It was incredibly easy to put together (just takes time to chop up your veggies) and was great leftover the next day. The site also notes you can feel free to use your favorite fresh veggies like asparagus and broccoli instead of (or in addition to!) the red pepper

Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder
from the Weight Watchers website

Ingredients

1 medium uncooked yukon gold potato
1/2 cup uncooked celery, chopped
1/4 cup uncooked onion, chopped
4 pieces corn on the cob, kernels removed with a knife (or 2 cups frozen corn kernels)
1 cup sweet red pepper, diced (or 1 cup frozen diced bell pepper pieces)
4 oz uncooked Canadian style bacon, diced
2 cups fat-free skim milk
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I omitted this)

Directions

Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool; peel and mash.
Meanwhile, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Add celery, onion, corn and red pepper; saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
Stir back and milk into saucepan; stir in mashed potato and mix well. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; stir to combine. Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil).

Enjoy!

week in iphone pics

2012-02-07T21:24:00.000-06:00

This is a wee bit late. Not like that is anything new. Whatever.

Um, you guys? I'm kind of becoming obsessed with instagram. I've been using the regular camera on my phone, and then uploading the images I want to use a filter on into the app. It makes it easy for me to take a few snapshots when I want to, and then play around with them later. And I may or may not overuse the little blur feature. It just makes the little square pictures so much more fun. :o)

I don't have much to say about these pictures, just a few snippits from the week. And again, if you want to follow me on instagram, search thedomesticwannabe.

technology is NOT my friend

2012-02-06T15:22:00.001-06:00

That is totally a lie. I love technology. But my Garmin & iMapMyRun? Totally driving me nuts.

Last Thursday I got out my Garmin watch and the screen was blank. I assumed the battery had died, I hadn't charged it in almost a week. No biggie. Plugged it in. Two hours later I still couldn't get the stupid watch to turn on. Of course I haven't read the directions so this is most likely a user error. But I pushed a freaking button, can't the damn thing just turn on? :o)

Anyway, since I didn't have my watch I just used iMapMyRun on my phone. I started with a little warm-up walk and then ran for a while. I was surprised when the nice lady chimed in over my music, letting me know I'd already gone a mile at 9 minutes. I mean, that isn't completely absurd, but I didn't think I was going that fast.

Well apparently that lady has been knocking a few back, she was most certainly out of sorts when she told me I more or less walked a mile in 6:24 this morning. After a mile she got back on track, but really. Is it so much to ask that either my Garmin or my phone function properly?

I don't have anything incredibly pertinent to discuss this morning. I was having a great week food wise last week. I lost four pounds in 24 hours while I was sick. Yes, I'm aware, water weight. Stick with me a bit longer. I gained two back by the next day. But then by Friday I was down a total of three pounds for the week. I was doing GREAT not eating any extra snacks and controlling my portion sizes.

Then I made cookies on Saturday.

Then I went to TWO parties on Sunday.

Then Chris brought home some tasty shrimp pot stickers from Whole Foods today.

I'm going to assume I'm not still down three pounds (I didn't weigh myself this morning). Yes, I'm still hovering around my goal weight. Yes, there are going to be ups and downs for the rest of my life with this whole weight thing. I just felt like I was on a roll, and seeing a number that I don't remember seeing since I was a freshman in high school. So this weekend was just kind of a healthy living buzz kill you know?

Part of me is kicking myself for not joining Dusty over at All Things G&D in her quest to complete the 28 Day Whole Living Challenge (she did it last year and raved about how great it made her feel!). But I just didn't feel I could commit to the food selections right now. Maybe next month.

How is everybody else feeling in the health and fitness department?

project 366 {week 5}

2012-02-06T13:57:00.000-06:00

chocolate nutella smooches

2012-02-05T21:44:00.002-06:00

Happy World Nutella Day!

So this post is coming about 14 hours later than I planned. I completely meant to write it yesterday, but then I got distracted. And then the KU game was on (I don't want to talk abou it). And then today I've been here and there and everywhere and haven't had a minute to sit down and type this out. I apologize. But I'm sure you survived.

Anyway, to celebrate World Nutella Day, Ryann and I made some Chocolate Nutella Smooches yesterday, based off this recipe. The flavor was great. Ryann would have eaten every last bite of dough had I let her. But they didn't cook incredibly well for me, and got kind of crispy. I think my oven cooks too hot, and I should have taken them out earlier, or turned the temp down just a touch. But they do look cute! I figured it was a good cookie choice being February and all.

For fun and something different, I did try a batch with the raspberry hugs out right now. They tasted wonderful, but the recipe called for putting the cookies back in the oven for a few minutes, and unfortunately the white tips of the kiss burnt a little bit. Sad story. I'm sure you could just bake the cookies and then stick with raspberry hugs on without putting them back in the oven, but I didn't try it.

Chocolate Nutella Smooches

originally found on Just Cook Already

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sprinkles or colored sugar
1 (9-ounce) package of dark chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, place the Nutella, butter and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together.
Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.
Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll the balls in the sprinkles, pressing to adhear. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 6-7 minutes and remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

It was a LOT harder to get the sprinkles to stick to the cookies, as opposed to the sugar. But again, I think they look incredibly cute.

Did anyone else use Nutella today? If you made a Nutella recipe, feel free to link it up below. :o)

this and that

2012-02-04T14:28:00.000-06:00

:: Bah. Why have I turned into such an insomniac again? This morning I was up at 4:47. Yes before 5am. What is wrong with me? And I try to go back to sleep but of course my mind is racing with a million things. Plus half the time I'm waking up from absurd dreams. Yesterday I know it was something about being in a pool full of leeches. And some of my professors from college where there. What the heck is that all about?

:: On a much happier note, does anyone remember what tomorrow is? Why World Nutella Day of course! I know you all have been anticipating it. Do you have a giant jar of Nutella and some recipes lined up? :o) If you're completely at a loss of something to make on this fine occasion, here are a list of recipes I've been wanting to try:

No Bake Nutella Cheesecakes

Chocolate Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge

Red Velvet & Nutella Cake in a Jar

Nutella Pie

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nutella Rice Crispy Treats

Ok I'll stop. I really just need a pinterest board dedicated to tasty Nutella treats. Three Nutella recipes I've made and highly recommend: Nutella Puppy Chow, Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Cookies, and No Bake Nutella S'Mores Crunch Bars. Ryann and I are going to make our Nutella treat today, then I'll share it tomorrow and post a link-up if you want to get in on the action. I have a feeling I'll be alone in this little celebration but whatever. I'm excited :o).

:: A random picture from Georgia. Because it is the only other one I've edited.

:: I'm having a hard time being productive this week. I was sick on Monday and it totally killed my mood for the week I think. My mom and I have folded over 90 large tissue poms, plus close to 50 mini ones, so at least I've got a good head start for Ryann's party. But I've got a lot of stuff to design, some laundry to wash and a dirty house. Fail. Can someone send me some productive juice? Thanks.

:: On Monday I took a few pictures of Ryann playing outside. She was having a good old time throwing a couple balls around. A couple of the pictures I took? Totally look like she is about to, or just did, get slammed in the face. Hahahahaha....

:: Tears. So many freaking tears. Ryann is just a hot mess. The good news? I can just see a teeny tiny tip of white at the back of her mouth. The two year molars are indeed barging their way through her gums. Obviously that sucks, but I'm just happy to know that after these we will be done with teething for a bit! If I go back through and read my posts about when life has been really hard around here, it almost always seems to coincide with teeth coming in. So maybe it will be all puppies and rainbows when these suckers are done. Oh who am I kidding. She's a toddler. Enough said.

:: Last week I made the crock pot chili recipe I shared with you. Only this time I used lean ground turkey. Pretty much couldn't tell a difference. So if you liked that chili, and want to make it a wee bit healthier, try turkey!

:: Have you seen the new sandals for toddler girls are Target? Ryann and I were browsing there this week (surprise surprise) and I seriously wanted to buy like five pairs for her. Unfortunately Target sandals didn't work out at all for us last year, so I'm not sure they will this year either. So I'm trying to hold off buying any until, um, we actually need sandals. But they are so cute... I'm in love with these and these.

:: Ok. Really. Now I'm going to go be productive...

favorite toddler iPad (and iPhone) apps

2012-02-03T15:22:00.000-06:00

As I've said in previous posts, I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship in regards to Ryann and the iPad (or the iPhone). She loves loves LOVES playing games on the iPad. If I really need to get something done without too much interruption, that thing can be a lifesaver (or when we're on a plane. definitely when we are on an airplane). But I don't want her always staring at a screen, not to mention the complete meltdown that ensues when I take it away.

Nonetheless, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of our favorite toddler games so far. Most of them are paid, some of them are more my favorites because of the educational aspect, some of them Ryann likes for who knows what reason. Here you go! :o)

Itsy Bitsy Spider by Duck Duck Moose $1.99
This was the first game that really solidified Ryann's love for the iPad and kept her attention. It is easy for her to navigate by herself, and with about five different scenes to move between she doesn't get bored quickly. The game also does have a a few educational aspects to it. The little fly answers some questions, and the squirrel helps you count to 10. Ryann has liked this game since we went to Georgia, so I would say suitable for about a year an up!

Peek A Zoo by Duck Duck Moose $0.99
Peek A Zoo is a more recent favorite, one we purchased while in Omaha for Christmas. Honestly? I don't understand why she loves it so much, but she does. And that is what matters. Basically the game asks a question (who is so and so, who is crying, who is face backwards) and the child selects the right character to move on.

The Monster At the End of this Book by Sesame Street $3.99
Chris and I both love the book, so we were excited to find an interactive version in the iTunes store. This is another app that Ryann has liked quite a bit since we first introduced her to the iPad. She has a great time tickling Grover and knocking down bricks to move from page to page. It does take a tad bit long for each page to load (nothing ridiculous, but sometimes long enough that Ryann starts to fidget or move on), but overall I think it was really well done.

UnColor by Christy Brant Company, LLC $0.99
This is a great simple app for young toddlers. Essentially you use your finger to clear the black off the screen, revealing an image underneath. Once the image is fully visible the animal does a little animation. One random side note about this app though, the scene with the zebra? Scares the crap out of Ryann every. single. time. The zebra makes a rather abrupt snort noise of some sort and it freaks her out. She played with it often enough that if she starts to swipe and even a tiny speck of the zebra scene is visible, she freaks out saying "No zebra! No zebra!" I do wish the game had more scenes, but to tell you the truth Ryann doesn't seem to mind all that much.

Make it Pop by Tryangle Labs $1.99
Ok this app, I love the concept of. It has a lot of educational aspects, working on letters, colors, numbers, etc. Unfortunately it doesn't hold Ryann's attention. I think mostly because it doesn't ask her any questions, just tells her stuff when she pokes it. She'll play with it for a while, but ultimately she picks something else. But I'm including it in my list because I love finding well designed AND educational apps for the iPad. (I found this app through Bri over at {collected}!)

Logic by PopAppFactory $1.99
Err, this is another that I probably like more than Ryann. But she will play a few sets before moving on. In this app, the child drags tiles featuring letters, shapes, numbers and colors to the appropriate space on the screen. This game is a bit more difficult, first because the child has to understand to hold there finger on the screen to drag the tiles (which I'm sure doesn't take too long to figure out, but still). Also, the numbers portion? You're matching tiles with a certain number of dots to the correct number space on the screen. Ryann can count, and she recognizes numbers, but the concept of that section is still too difficult for her.

Coloring for Kids by Internet Design Zone free
Apparently coloring on the iPad is way cooler than coloring with real crayons these days. Basically this app has coloring pages you can color. There are several different colors and apparently 3 different brush sizes (all though I have yet to figure out how to change mine, haven't really tried to though). Not really sure why Ryan loves it so much, but she does. This game is listed as 'free', which initially it is, but you only get two of the seven categories of coloring pages. To have access to the rest is $1.99. So far Ryann has just been happy with the free set so no big deal to me.

Peekaboo Animals: There's a Lion in my Backyard! by Bambino Avenue free
To tell you the truth, I have no idea what this app does or is about. Ryann clicks through the thing so fast and all I hear is a kid saying "It would be nice to have a GORRILLA! in my backyard," in an accent. But she accidentally deleted the thing off my phone and it was as if the world ended. Tears and lots of whining that I couldn't understand. So, um, it must be fun? The app is free but only comes with six animals. You have to pay $0.99 to have the full set of 25 animals. Maybe the next time we take a trip somewhere I'll pay up to keep my kid entertained for longer :).

Elmo Loves ABCs by Sesame Street $4.99
I hesitate to include this one, mainly because of the price. I don't necessarily think it is worth $5. Some of it is a little complicated for a young toddler as well. But Ryann DOES play it, and does enjoy it. It doesn't hold her attention as long as some of the others. Supposedly you can upload your own photos and such into the game to be included in the various letter segments, but I have yet to try it. I saw that there is a lite version (no idea why we didn't try that first) so maybe look for that as opposed to paying for this one.

Glow Coloring by MobiTech3000 LLC free
Just another simple and fun coloring app. I guess you can scan images and import them into this app so you have something to trace/color. But we haven't tried that out yet. Ryann likes the coloring app I mentioned above better than this one, but maybe if I included the images to color she'd like it more. Either way, it's free, might as well give it a try!

And there you have it. Overall I would highly recommend checking out all the apps by Duck Duck Moose if you are looking for a good game for your kiddos. I think Fish School seems good for younger toddlers, but Ryann isn't all that interested in it. We've also got Park Math which seems a little over her head, and Musical Me which just doesn't seem to hold her interest or is a little complicated or something, but I still think they are good games. I'm excited to try out Word Wagon soon. I just like that the apps really are trying to be educational, AND they are well designed.

How about you? Have any favorite apps you'd like to share?

embrace the camera

2012-02-02T13:47:00.000-06:00

You know what? Being a mom is tough.

Ok I'm sure lots and lots and lots of you know that. But ohemgee this whole toddler roller coaster we're riding? It is insane.

Ryann hasn't really wanted to eat all that much the last few days. Except for stupid 'crunchies', but that is beside the point. No big deal. She was sick on Sunday (like puked all over me and my parents rug sick), I got sick Sunday night and felt miserable most of the day Monday. So maybe she isn't feeling it. Or maybe her molars are starting to come in. Or maybe a million other things.

I thought I'd be clever and not offer a snack yesterday morning, unless of course she asked, to see if I could trick her into eating real food for lunch. I'm pretty sure I turned her into a beast. And thank the Lord for granting me some patience yesterday, because this my friends, is what she did to my knee with a Ham the Pig figurine:

See, if I tell her we are not going to do something she wants to do (in a calm, kind manner with explanation of course), she has taken to slamming her hand down on whatever is nearest and yelling no. Hitting whatever object is closest to her and just saying no over and over again. She gets so worked up about it. And unfortunately yesterday my knee was the closest object, and she happened to be holding a hard and pointy-ish toy. Plus I'm pretty sure she was ticked off at me.

I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. She was most likely hungry and tired. I made her apologize. She did. She gave me a hug and said sorry. She was still pissed. But she apologized. I fed her lunch. And then? Then she was all smiles and giggles and happiness. She said "Mommy, may I have a nose kiss please?" as I was laying her down for nap. No joke.

Daily I am baffled by how to deal with the ups and downs of Ryann's personality. She is such an amazing little girl. So smart. So adorable. So funny. But girlfriend can push my buttons like nobody's business. Some days I am great at rationalizing the fact that she is a toddler and doesn't know how to deal with her emotions. Or that she is just testing me. Or surprise, the kid is freaking hungry.

There is no doubt in my mind that I was meant to be a mom. Ryann's mom. But whew. Some days are just plain HARD.

Oh and two year molars? If it is you that is bringing out the worst in my child every other hour, could you just flipping show up already? I'd appreciate it.

Completely unrelated to the rest of my text, don't you just love my attempt at timer photos? I used the ball as a focus point, pushed the button, jumped off the porch, grabbed Ryann and tried to sit on top of the thing. My photo isn't in focus and I've got a mini volleyball shoved between my legs. Oh well, better luck next time, right? :o)

a day in the life - caitlin

2012-02-01T07:52:00.000-06:00

Good morning and hello February! Craziness. I can't believe how fast time flies lately. Any exciting plans this month for anyone? I've got lots of design work and birthday decorations to finish. I am going to be BUSY.

Looks like I'm not the only one with a lot on my plate. Caitlin's day made me tired!! I hope you enjoy a peek at her day seeing how she makes it all work :o).

***

Hi! I’m Caitlin from Mrs. MidAtlantic. I’m a working mom to Laura (age 2) with a baby boy due in May. Our daily adventures include my husband, Nate, and our rambunctious labradoodle, Riesling (age 6). We have a hectic weekday schedule, getting Laura to and from daycare three days a week, with both of us working full time five days a week. Laura gets to stay home with Grandma on Thursdays and Fridays (and with her Grammy this past week!). Nate is a Certified Financial Planner, and works some crazy hours. I work for a museum in Washington, DC. I’m documenting this Monday, as it was one of our more “normal” day care days. Thanks for reading!

6:00 – I grudgingly get out of bed. I don't want to get up! I hop straight in the shower, since Nate and my mom both need to shower right away this morning, too.

6:30 – I'm showered and dressed, with my wet hair in a ponytail (it’s just not convenient to blow-dry today, with my mom also vying for the dryer), and my usual make-up applied: foundation, eyeliner, and mascara. I pop into Laura’s room and turn on the light to get her started.

Since she seems to be extra sleepy this morning, I head downstairs to take care of Riesling. I drink some chocolate milk and pack Laura’s lunch (prepped last night) while the dog eats her kibbles. Then I let Riesling outside to relieve herself and head back upstairs for Laura.

6:40 – Laura is wide awake now, and asks me what time it is. Seriously? Did my only just barely two-year-old just ask me for the time??? I laugh as I tell her 6:40. She nods approvingly and slips her arms into her outfit for the day. Maybe she’s amazed that we’re not running late this morning? I am very good at running late on random weekday mornings. But I’m also very good at getting everything done on time on the mornings that really matter, like today. Today is Laura’s first day in the two-year-old room, and I want her new drop-off routine to go smoothly! (I also need to get my mom to the airport in time for her 8:30 flight and catch my train to DC!)

7:03 – We are at school, figuring out this new classroom drop-off. We put Laura’s lunch in the special bin, and head back to the early drop-off playroom. Laura looks so small next to all the big kids already playing! She looks a little apprehensive, but one of the big girls invites her to play. My heart swells with thanks for this HUGE four-year-old who is being so sweet to my baby! Laura will be perfectly fine as soon as I leave, so I high-tail it out of day care and head to the airport with my mom.

7:20 – I drop my mom off at the airport to head home. A Grammy's work is never done; she'll get a quick nap at home today before hopping in the car to watch my niece overnight. We were really lucky to have my mom with us all week, so I guess we can share Grammy with her other granddaughter!

7:35 – I just caught my train! It's really crowded for some reason this morning, and I was one of the last on at my stop. Finding a seat is tricky, but I'm visibly pregnant at this point, so a kind gentleman offers his seat. I gratefully accept! I catch up on Facebook and some blogs during the ride.

8:00 – I disembark from train for the final leg of my morning commute: a brief walk across the street. Most mornings, I just trudge with the other thousand commuters, head down, to make it to my building. This morning, I enjoy the fresh, cool air, and I look around at my breathtaking surroundings.

When I really stop to think about it, it’s pretty amazing to be working a football field away from the United States Capitol! What a view! I head to my desk to get settled in for the week, check Facebook compulsively, and check my calendar for some weekend events Nate and I are discussing.

8:46 – I decide that I’d really, really like some coffee (and a bagel!) for the 9am meeting I have with my boss for a new project I asked to be a part of. I am pretty excited to be included in what is now a two-person team. We have weekly status meetings, which are usually pretty quick. I could probably get the coffee after, but I still have 14 minutes!

12:00 – I made it to noon without eating my hand! Time for lunch with my coworkers! We mostly really like each other, so we gather in one of the two conference rooms most weekdays to dine and socialize. Today I had chicken tenders, French fries and M&M’s from the cafeteria in my building. Fried food… it tastes so good in my tummy!

4:24 – It’s time to go home after a really busy day! I head back across the street to catch the train back north. I decompress on the ride, and take a quick nap. I need as much energy as I can get to make through the next four hours. Being pregnant sure is tiring!

5:40 – I pick up Laura from her first day in the Two’s room. She had a rough afternoon, since she didn’t take a nap with the other children. This new nap schedule (on a cot!) will be a tough adjustment, but we’ll get through. Laura’s a little cranky, but we need groceries!

6:30 – Home from the grocery store, and I immediately get to work on making meatloaf for dinner. It’s Nate’s favorite, but takes an hour to cook. Laura’s not in a mood to eat much of anything, so I don’t worry about making her wait. She requests eggs, then refuses to eat them. Four strawberries and two bites of “ogurt” later, she is done with dinner. Her eating (or lack thereof) drives me crazy, but it's also not worth arguing over every night. She had some milk and strawberries in the grocery store, so I guess she's just more tired than she is hungry!

7:15 – Nate’s sister stops by to drop off one last birthday present for Laura. Maria is a very welcome distraction for us all. Laura is obviously overtired, and needs to see someone different for a few minutes while Nate and I eat dinner.

7:54 – Maria heads home, and Laura goes straight to bed, 36 minutes early. She’s had a long day, and the week is only just starting!

8:21 – Dinner is cleaned up and Laura’s lunch is ready for tomorrow. Nate, Riesling and I collapse on the couch.

9:42 – I decide I just don’t care what happens in the TV show we are watching, so I head upstairs. I’m in bed by 10:15.

11:15 – Nate andI are awoken by Laura crying. She has a really high fever – that explains a lot about today! Guess she’s not going to school tomorrow! While I’m usually not a fan of co-sleeping, I decide this situation requires an exception. Laura and I snuggle into the guest bed, and we all fall asleep till morning.

What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
For me, the most surprising thing about being mom has been how much I hate changing diapers!! I changed a gazillion of my younger sister’s diapers back in the day (I’m nine years older), and babysat all through college. I never once minded changing a diaper until becoming a mom. Maybe it’s been different as a mom, since I know there aren’t any parents coming home at 10pm to pay me and take me home!

What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms?
Try not to set expectations for yourself for what kind of mom you'll be. Let yourself just experience it all. Take it in. You will love certain parts of being a mom and hate other parts; that’s ok! Just don't compare yourself to an ideal- or anyone else!

What are you top three baby products?

Hands down, my favorite baby product so far has been the Halo Sleepsack. Laura is in her third winter, and I can’t imagine how I would have kept her warm enough through the night those first two winters. I actually wish I could still put her in one now! I just can’t quite justify the use for a two-year-old!
My husband says our ExerSaucer was one of the best products. Laura started in it really early and stayed in it really late. She loved all the activities and bouncing. We loved that she was entertained in a stationary – and safe –manor! She got a great view of the family activities from there, too. Our new baby will definitely be in it.
I also really loved the wooden Carter's highchair we got for Laura. She’s not using it anymore, but it was both beautiful and functional – with a great price tag.

Thanks for having me over today!

***

Thank you, Caitlin, for sharing your day with us!

twenty-two months

2012-01-31T07:10:00.000-06:00

Ryann turned twenty-two months on Sunday. Two months until two. It is coming so fast!

It was a very speedy photo session this month. Ryann wasn't feeling the best, the sun was going down, and really all she wanted was the m&m's we were bribing her with. So I got a few of the cheesiest smiles EVER before another "M&M?" Oy. She is such an adorable silly little girl.

My poor kid. I really need to buy her some new pants (well, leggings, or jeggins, whatever. she has lots of new pants :o). Her 2T jeggings from Target are way too short. How on Earth is she growing out of something in the 2T size? That baffles me. Her 2T Old Navy jeans are still pretty saggy and baggy, so I know she hasn't grown absurd amount. But still, I bought 3T leggings. That is just wrong. Oh and last month, when I said I didn't think she had thinned out all that much? Hahaha, I took a peek at some pictures of Ry from June. Look at that belly! And oh my goodness her hair has grown.

Gah, unfortunately Ryann has decided she no longer has an interest in the potty. Occasionally she will go when I ask, but more often than not she freaks out on me and tells me no. So I'm trying not to push it. But diaper changes are pretty much the end of the world for her, so that isn't any fun either. I know she isn't two yet, and there is no need for her be potty trained RIGHT NOW, but I just feel like she should get it, you know? Oh well. I suppose we'll get there eventually.

This past months emotions have been VERY strong around here. When Ryann she is happy, she is so incredibly happy and fun and hilarious and I just want to squeeze all her cuteness. But when she is ticked off? Ohemgee. Seriously. I know she is just testing her boundaries, coming into her own as an independent little person. But holy cow that kid can push your buttons like crazy. And oh the drama if something doesn't go her way. The world must seriously be ending if I suggest she drink some water as opposed to more milk. Thankfully, again, the other half of the time she is just ridiculously adorable and so much fun.

Ryann is always singing to herself. She loves a wide variety of nursery rhymes, and in her world then tend to blend seamlessly into each other. What starts off as Old McDonald goes into Bingo and somehow ends up at Twinkle Little Star. Her favorite songs right now are Skip to My Lou and Good Feeling by Flo Rida :o). She loves the 'never never never never had before' part, and the 'yeah'. Also, she can turn anything into a song. If we're just sitting around playing it is usually something to her own little jingle, such as "mommy here and blocks and the monkey and this one goes here and have a tea party and max and sophie...". Just her own little tune with her stream of thoughts. So so cute.

The more Ryann's vocabulary and enunciation improves, the more apparent the letters she isn't so good at becomes. Which in all honesty is adorable. L's and S's are by far the toughest letters for her to pronounce in a word. She can do it, but she has to be concentrating really hard. L's usually sound like Y's, and she regularly just drops S's. Like the other day she told me she was going to take a little 'nooze (snooze). And there was a leopard beanie baby at my mom's house, "Can the yepard sit in your yap?" I yove it :o). Her sentences are getting more and more complex everyday. Especially when she is trying to boss us around. "No Mommy, I don't want banana," or "No, those are my stickers. Don't touch Auntie." That second one was said to my sister this past weekend, it was rather funny.

Ry has been getting very good with letter sounds the past month. She can now pretty much identify any letter if you make the sound, or if she sees a little she will make the sound herself. We have also been working on figuring out what letter various words start with. While driving in the car, I'll ask her random words, such as, "Street. Ssstreet. What letter do you think street starts with?" I would say she gets them right 80% of the time. C's and K's are tough, as well as letters that can regularly sound like other letters (she thinks gym starts with a j, I don't blame her!).

Something else exciting we have really started working on, is sight words. I can now write down Ryann, Mommy, Daddy, Papa, Grammy, Kansas and Cat and Ryann will usually correctly identify the word. Sometimes she guesses what I am writing simply from the first letter, so I need to start doing more words so she actually has to wait and look at the whole thing, but I was impressed with this skill. Her ability to memorize and remember things is just astounding.

Ry still loves to color, and it has been crazy to watch her coloring 'skills' transform over the last month. She is REALLY good at staying in the lines of coloring books (when she wants to). And her scribbling on blank paper has started to become so much more controlled. She can pretty much draw a convincing circle (you can see some of them in this post. and ok, maybe it is more of an oval but whatever :o).

Ryann's obsession with the iPad, or games on my iPhone, is just simply ridiculous. I have to admit, her ability to work those electronics is amazing. She knows exactly where to go, and enjoys some seemingly complex games for her age. This weekend she was rocking a memory game (with only 4 and 6 cards, but still!) as well as a phonics game. The phonics game is tough, because she has to be patient enough for the odd sounding chick to talk to her, but it says the sound of a letter and Ry has to correctly guess which letter it is. Then it spells out two and three letter words. I have no doubt she is learning from some of the games, but I can't handle the hysterics when we take the stupid iPad away. And my phone? If it isn't out of her reach, the second I'm not looking she grabs it and starts playing a game. A great distraction during shopping trips and lengthy meals at restaurants, but still...

Favorites this month: PURPLE. Seriously? Seriously. Everything purple. Playing lots and lots of games on the ipad. Crunchies (Pirate's Booty). What's Wrong Little Pookie. Stuffed animals and beanie babies. Rolling around in mommy and daddy's bed. Trying to get in trouble, oy.

This age is so tough, but just so much fun at the same time. Ryann can throw a mean tantrum, but watching her turn into this little person with likes, dislikes, opinions! is just amazing. Each day I have a little moment where I am in awe watching her change and grow. Being a parent, a mother, is no easy task, but I am so thankful to be a mom.

And Miss Ryann, I am so incredibly thankful to be your mom! Love you baby girl. To the moon. AND BACK!

a quick {almost} 5k

2012-01-30T10:38:00.000-06:00

I think I've finally solved the issue with my individual blog posts with comments not showing up. If you are having problems with your blog, change your comments from embedded to pop-up. I think there are a couple of other ways to solve the issue (something about google+ or chrome?) but changing the comments format was an easy fix.

This weekend Ryann and I were home with my parents. Saturday my dad and I participated in a local 5k in support of the Special Olympics. It wasn't a timed official 5k or anything, but it was my first chance to test my legs at a 5k race.

I was pretty stoked as I headed into the finish line and the giant clock was only at 23 minutes. I mean, come on, that is crazy fast for me! Unfortunately my Garmin only read 2.87 miles when I crossed the line, so it wasn't a full 5k. But my time was right around 23:45, an 8:16 minute mile. Definitely the fastest I've run almost 3 miles ever! Not going to lie, I felt like I was going to die going up the last hill, but I so badly wanted to keep my pace. I wish I knew how I placed, I don't think there were too many people in front of me (it was a small race :o). Pretty proud of my dad as well, he finished in under 28 minutes.

No races on the schedule for February yet, but I'm hoping to do two 5k's in March. The Truffle Shuffle on the 3rd and the Diva Dash on the 24th, just need to find a babysitter for the 24th... :o). Anyone else up for the Truffle Shuffle?

On another note, the first of the year I signed up on dailymile.com. I'd been wanting to do it for a while, but my OCD self couldn't handle starting something that tracked mileage in the middle of the year. I'm a spaz, I'm aware. Anyway, I'm loving it. So far this year I've logged 77.22 miles running and walking. I'd say that is a pretty good start to my 500 mile goal. Pretty sure I should have set the bar a bit higher... oh well. Can't wait to see my total at the end of the year!

Link up your fitness related posts below!

project 366 {week four}

2012-01-29T10:15:00.000-06:00

It is funny/amazing/nice how the grouping of photos makes a so so image seem much stronger. That isn't always the case, but this week I've been extremely meh about taking these photos. Not putting a lot of effort into it. Still seeing them all together makes me happy with the moments I've captured. I really hope I can stick with it, I can't wait to see all the images together at the end of the year!

week in iphone pics

2012-01-28T22:08:00.002-06:00

Well, I've decided I have a love/hate relationship with instagram (if you really want to follow my feed, look for thedomesticwannabe. and be prepared for a slew of pictures of Ryann.). And part of it may be I just don't really know what I'm doing, so throw out some pointers if you've got any.

I love being able pick the filter after the fact. So really I can just take pictures on the regular camera, and deal with making them pretty when I have time. I also love the little blur feature. I've probably overused it already. I don't love not being able to pick the specific frame I want. I really like the consistency I've had with my hipstamatic 'prints'. It is driving me nuts that these don't all look the same. I suppose I could solve that problem by not having a frame on any of them at all, but sometimes I want the frame, you know? And that blur feature, can you change the size of the area that isn't affected?

The other thing that drives me nuts is that the images aren't all the same size. As in when I went to edit the photos and make these collages I had to spend time adjusting the image size on each file so I could put them all in one place. Not the end of the world, just an extra step I didn't have before.

Ok moving on, our week via my phone!

monday

Ryann was basically a goober all day. We had a playdate, but I couldn't get a decent picture on my phone. Ryann and Daddy had a tickle fight. Nothing crazy.

tuesday

I will never understand why she loves to sleep with her face stuff in the corner. It's tough to see but her little bum is sticking up in the air and she is face down in the top right corner. I was just trying to take a picture of all the beads Ryann made me wear at 7:30am, but she decided to eat them. I have no idea. Shopping with the grammy! Ryann cracked herself up throughout Hobby Lobby and found some shades she absolutely had to have at Baby Gap. While Ryann napped we started on some birthday party tissue poms. And just a sweet smile to send to daddy.

wednesday

Ryann woke up with some crazy hair. One side had gone completely flat, the other was a crazy curly mess. We visited a playtime at the museum with our friends. Ryann and I hit up where else, Target. And do you see the yogurt melt hat on her head? She was very proud.

thursday

Ryann told Chris she wanted to construct mommy out of the blocks. This is what they came up with. Looks just like me, doesn't it? Ryann and I drove to Grammy's house. Well, I drove. She snoozed. Grammy put together an entire playroom for Ryann, complete with a little table with a roll of paper for stickers and coloring. Ryann is one lucky little girl.

friday

Ryann learned to make a really awesome and very pretty face... I was trying to make her smile, and obviously she thought I was nuts. Giraffes in the grocery store, ahh! :o) And mini tissue poms. Lots of them. Thanks to my bestie and my mom for helping my absurd birthday party ideas come to life.

saturday

Oh my little musician :o). And apparently the baskets aren't just for toys and beanie babies.

And that pretty much sums up our week! Actually there was a lot of crankiness and a few tears this week. Mostly from Ryann, possibly a little bit from me. I *think* her last set of molars are starting to come in. She always has her hand shoved down her throat, and her emotions are ALL OVER THE PLACE. I can't keep up. I'm praying it is her molars and that they just come in and get it over with. Not that this is just her being a toddler. Oy. I can only take so much!

Linking up with Amy!

embrace the camera

2012-01-26T06:10:00.000-06:00

After we went out to dinner Saturday, I wanted Chris to take a picture of Ryann and I. I don't think it is any secret, it is a rare occasion when I'm wearing make-up and real clothes. I want to be better about not looking like a slob, but well, it isn't happening right now. So if I'm wearing make-up and normal clothes? I most definitely need to document it.

Well... this is what we ended up with :o).

As much as I try and try, she still hates having her picture taken (errr, probably because I try and try...) But better than nothing, right?

a day in the life - suzanne

2012-01-25T06:13:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful that I stumbled upon Suzanne's blog. Honestly I don't remember when or how, but I just stopped by one day early last year. Reading Suzanne's blog was comforting and uplifting and encouraged me to open up about some rough thoughts swirling around in my head. I hope you'll pop over to her blog and read her story. And if nothing else I hope you enjoy a peek at her day with some adorable little girls!

***

Hi! I'm Suzanne from pretty*swell, and I'm really excited to hang out here today!

My husband, Marc, and I have two girls: Lily, who will be four in a couple of weeks (yikes!) and baby Sophie, eight months old. I work three days a week as a university news editor and stay home with the girls two days. I'm blessed to have a job that allows me to spend more time with my family than I do in my office.

Here's one of our "stay-home-mommy-days," as Lily calls them:

7:30: Everyone sleeps in a little bit this morning! Sophie had a fever last night, so we were up often. On my days off, I wait for the girls to wake me. We enjoy not being in a hurry.

8:00: Marc whips up a quick breakfast before heading out the door (He's lost 20 pounds in the last couple of months! I'm trying to keep up!) Lily eats her usual: oatmeal with applesauce. Today she's extra hungry, so she peels a clementine. Sophie hangs out in the exersaucer watching all the action. I eat a scrambled egg on whole wheat toast with some orange wedges.

8:45: Baby on the move! Sophie and I play on the floor while big sister watches her morning cartoon (Today it's Olivia. I love Olivia.)

9:00: Bella does this ALL DAY LONG. Smart dog, that one.

9:45: Off to the pediatrician for the hundredth time since Sophie started daycare. Her fever worries me. She's had two ear infections in the last three months. Here we are waiting for the doctor to come in. (Her ears, lungs, nose and throat checked out fine. Just a bad cold. Whew.)

11:30 Finally home! Sophie chugs a bottle and goes down for a nap. We're lucky that Lily has gotten so good at playing by herself. Such a big girl.

12:15: I make Lily an egg sandwich for lunch. I scarf a turkey sandwich with baked chips and a Diet Coke, then log everything into My Fitness Pal (love that app).

12:30: Silly Lily. We're working on getting those knees off the table.

12:45: Lily helps me with a photo shoot for my Etsy shop, Posy. Such a sweet little model!

1:15: I hear Sophie squawking over the monitor. After some more floor-time (she's just started pulling up on furniture!), I feed her blueberries, bananas and oatmeal for lunch. I'm making most of her baby food, but this one is a Happy Baby blend. She loves it.

1:45: Lily builds a blanket fort while Sophie eats. Blankets everywhere.

2:15: We make a quick trip to the grocery store. Because I'm a glutton for punishment.

3:30: Home and nap attempts. Emphasis on the word "attempt." Sophie is out of sorts and Lily refuses to sleep. So I convince Lily to read in her bed and then rock the baby for a while. They both drift off for a little bit. I tiptoe to my bedroom and do a 30-minute strength training routine (where five-pound weights kick my butt).

5:30: Daddy is home! This is everyone's favorite part of the day.

6:15: Lily and I venture out in the rain to our favorite pizza place to pick up our order while Marc feeds Sophie and puts her to bed. Apparently, I was too busy stuffing my face to take any pictures at dinner. Pizza has that effect on me.

8:00: After a 45-step bedtime routine (seriously), Lily and I snuggle up with The Story of Ferdinand. I absolutely love this book.

(Photo I didn't take on purpose: Sophie's huge blow-out diaper. You're welcome.)

You survived my photobomb! Thanks for sticking with me ... I took over a hundred that day (because I'm a crazy lady with my camera).

Here are my answers to Ashley's questions:

What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
That one tiny moment of awesome can erase an entire day of awful.

What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms?
Trust your instincts! I've surprised myself with how often I was right (after having doubted myself unnecessarily).

What are your top three baby products?
As the mom of two very gassy babies, I have a special place in my heart for Dr. Brown's bottles and Mommy's Bliss gripe water. We also love Aden + Anais muslin blankets.

Thanks so much for having us here, Ashley! We had such fun!

***

Thank you for sharing your day with us Suzanne!

this and that

2012-01-24T06:10:00.000-06:00

:: Last night I was washing dishes at the sink while Chris and Ryann were playing a game that was some sort of combination of chase/peekaboo/tickling/who knows what. Her little feet were thumping all over the hardwood. There was lots of giggles. She would run in the kitchen and hide between my legs, peek out, and when Chris would jump out from around the corner she would dissolve into a pile of laughter and they would be off and running again.

It was one of those moments that just makes my heart swell. Days can be rough. Not everything is perfect. But I have much more than I need. And my little family makes me so incredibly happy.

:: Thank you Baby Gap for creating clothing that perfectly matches the color scheme for Ryann's birthday party at just the right time. Now I just have to decide what exactly I want her to wear. I think no matter what she will have a pair of those purple jeans. Because whether I like it or not, apparently purple is her favorite color. And those are adorable!

:: Speaking of the birthday party, why do all things alphabet related have to only come in primary colors? It is making me life just a wee bit more difficult.

:: Lately I've been letting Ryann take a shower with me in the evening. Sometimes it is just more efficient to get us both clean at the same time. Not to mention now she actually likes the shower as opposed to screaming her head off if I take her in there. Well last night she was overly excited about the upcoming shower and was more or less yelling at me to take my clothes off and get the heck in the shower. When I finally was in my birthday suit she slapped my naked butt and said "yes! mommy naked!" Awkward much?

:: I've read a few articles in the last week related to kids and parenting. I found them all interesting, helpful, and in one instance highly entertaining. If you haven't come across them you should definitely take a minute to read them!

Don't Carpe Diem

To the Mother With Only One Child

9 Things I Learned in the Parents Encouragement Program, AKA Sh*tty Parents Anonymous

:: I'm in the market for a new diaper bag. Or a second diaper bag I guess. I want to have the option to take a backpack diaper bag with me if need be. I've seen the Petunia Pickle Bottom bags of course, but any other suggestions for a backpack diaper bag I should take a peek at?

:: Well I finally got on instagram. But I am having a hard time using it over my hipstamatic app. I'm just so used to hipstamatic. Plus sometimes I take like 4 or 5 shots of the sameish thing on my phone, and I don't want those to automatically go through to me feed (not that anyone is following me right now, but you know...) so I'm taking pictures with my regular iphone camera and then putting one or two into instagram. Have any of you tried out instaplus? Or I suppose I could continue using hipstamatic and just upload the photos I really want to share into instagram. Seems so complicated, doesn't it?

:: I've still been to lazy to edit a bunch of my Georgia pictures. But here are a few where I was practicing shooting into the sun. Beach pictures can be tough with the sun being so bright, so I figured I'd play around with some other angles.

:: Do you wear leggings? What is your favorite brand? I tried really hard at making myself get dressed regularly, because I don't want to look like a slob, but if we are just going to be around the house sweatpants are way more comfortable. I'm trying to compromise with leggings.

:: Happy Tuesday!

good news and bad news

2012-01-23T06:29:00.000-06:00

Pssst... I finally have a button for Move it Monday! If you link up please include it in your post. Get your friends to join in on our fitness motivation! I'm still working out some kinks, but you can find it in the sidebar ----->

Let's start with with the good news. In the last week and a half I've had 3 pretty decent runs. A 7 miler and a 4 miler at a 9:02 pace, and then another 7 miler yesterday at an 8:59 pace. Not to mention yesterday I had a running buddy (hi Jill!). 7 miles is much more appealing when there is someone to talk to. I did learn, however, that I am NOT used to talking while running. I'm sure Jill thought I was going to die or something while I was huffing and puffing and trying to hold a conversation.

Yesterday was definitely a good day to have a running buddy. Looking at the weather app on my phone, it was one of those mornings that I would have most likely said screw it and just did a few miles on the treadmill. Felt like 32, winds at 20-22mph and a chance for rain. Yes, sounds thrilling doesn't it? But funny thing, I didn't actually have Jill's phone number (we arranged our little running date on facebook) so I couldn't text her and back out. That is a great thing, because really the weather wasn't bad at all. It wasn't too chilly, we didn't get rained on, and I only noticed the wind a couple times. I'm looking forward to more running dates.

Now the bad news. Yesterday while we were running Jill mentioned that the half marathon I was planning to run in April had sold out. I went home and checked and yep, sure enough all of the spots sold out Friday night. And no, I had not signed up yet. I have a hard time committing to a race too early on, because they aren't cheap and what if I get hurt, or Chris doesn't have the day off and my parents can't watch Ryann, or a million other things. I knew I couldn't wait as long for this one (I didn't sign up for my last half until a week before the race!) but I thought 5-8 weeks out would be fine. Apparently I was wrong.

The other bad thing? The only other half in the area this spring (that I know of) is the following weekend. Great, except we will be at a wedding in Emporia. I might be able to make it work, but Christopher wouldn't be able to come (not that big of a deal but of course I love his support!) and I'm just not sure driving back and forth and probably not getting enough sleep would be the best set up for me to PR. And if I'm not going to PR why go to all the trouble? That's not saying I'll never run a race if I think I might not beat my previous time, but in this situation it probably wouldn't be worth it. Bah. We will see. If you happen to know of a half marathon in the Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka or Omaha area mid March-May (except the weekend of April 21st) let me know!

I guess I do have one more good thing to share. I called my mom yesterday complaining about not being able to sign up for the race. I said something about how it isn't like I've been going out for 7-8 mile runs for fun. Except then I realized, I kind of have been. In the last few months there has been no real need for me to do a run longer than 5 miles (I suppose there hasn't been a need for me to do a run at all, other than for fitness reasons). 3-5 miles would have definitely maintained my running base and allowed me to jump into a decent training program whenever. But I'm really really starting to love long runs. I have such a sense of accomplishment when I'm done. Especially if I've had a great pace. Not to mention I love the extra calories it provides me that day.

Yes, my legs hurt. Yes, it can time consuming. Yes, sometimes I'd rather just be lazy with Chris and Ryann on a Sunday morning. But dare I say it?

I LOVE RUNNING.

I think I've gone crazy.

Link up your health and fitness related posts below!

week in iphone pics

2012-01-22T07:07:00.000-06:00

Whoa, I actually took enough pictures this week that I felt the need to break it up into days. Major improvement from the last few weeks :o).

sunday

Shoot. I 100% want to go back to Georgia right now. We wandered around outside, played at the park and hit up the beach in the afternoon. Dear friends and family, let's all pack up and move to a warmer location. I want to go, but don't want to go alone!

monday

Oh yes, those views? I saw them will I was running. Makes me really want to go outside here in Kansas in the 30 degree or less weather with 20 mile per hour winds and run for 6+ miles. Not. Oy. I swear I'll stop complaining soon :o). Another day in Georgia where we spent a lot of time playing outside. It was lovely. And Ryann killed me with cuteness. I couldn't get over the cape and the boots.

tuesday

On our way back to Kansas. The real iphone excitement of Tuesday, was the free CamWow app (hence the giant logo) I downloaded. I thought it might keep Ryann entertained for a bit. I was right. It didn't take her long to figure out how to aim it at her face and snap away. Chris says these pictures creep him out, but whatever. I find them hilarious.

wednesday

Ryann was incredibly cranky Wednesday morning so we spent a little while watching Mickey Mouse in the bed. I thought maybe I could sneak in the last pages of the Hunger Games while she watched, but whenever I had that book out she wanted to 'read' it. Silly girl. She isn't supposed to climb on the fireplace, so when I caught her I asked her to get down. Her response? "But mama I sittin' wif my friends!" aka all of her Little People animals and such. I think she was actually sitting on them but whatever. 1500+ sheets of tissue paper showed up at my door. A million tissue poms here I come! Oh sidenote, supposedly the polka dot paper and the green paper on the left are both 'citrus' green. Really? I think not. And my laundry helper is pretty cute.

thursday

Ryann is getting rather skilled with the camera on my phone. I had to help her steady it, but she opened the app and said "I take picture of mama?" Not too shabby little one. But try to avoid the up angle ok? Not my best look :o). I was distracted doing something, I can't remember what, but it got incredibly quiet. Apparently Ryann got into the bag of party supplies I found leftover from her first birthday party. She told me she was having a picnic with her friends. While we were baking she was eating some of the broken pretzels I was putting on top of the brownies. She held up each piece and told me what it looked like, usually a letter (and she was usually right, it did look like a J or an M or something!). This particular pretzel apparently looked like a telephone. She held it up to her ear and said, "Hello? Oh ok. Buh bye!" Christopher and I had Jimmy John's for dinner that night. She stuck the stickers on her arm and said "I'm going runnin'. This is my runnin' watch." Tee hee, love her.

friday

Err, we may have been in the bed watching more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I really try to avoid the TV with her, but that stupid mouse makes her so flipping happy. Apparently the dolls in Target creep her out. She thought she was being hilarious, smiling with grapes in her mouth and all. And honestly I can't remember what her and Christopher were doing, but they were having a good time.

saturday

Saturday we had a nice lazy day around the house for the most part. Then we took Christopher's mom out for a nice belated birthday dinner. But the only phone pictures I took were these post bath gems. You know you want to be friends with us. I love my little family :o).

And now I must attend to the wee one. She is in her crib singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of her lungs. Apparently it is morning time!

project 366 {week three}

2012-01-21T22:06:00.000-06:00

Well. Most of week three. I shared a few pictures at the beginning of the week, but from now on I think I'll share Sunday-Saturday at a time. Seeing as the first was on a Sunday it works out just perfectly that way doesn't it?

This photo series was heavily inspired by Lila Was Here. One of my favorite project 365's I've ever seen!

baking assistant

2012-01-21T15:30:00.000-06:00

Seriously. I can't believe Ryann used to be absolutely terrified of the mixer. Now when I get it out she happily exclaims "Bake? Bake! Bake bake bake!" Which of course is immediately followed by "Ryann lick the spatula?" She is too cute. I can't say no.

Yes. Brownie batter is that good.

my photography gear & tips

2012-01-20T14:53:00.000-06:00

Before I go a single step further on this, I 100% want to state the fact that I am no expert AT ALL on the subject of photography. I am just a mom with a camera who wants to take good pictures of my kids. Well currently kid, but I hope there will be kids :o).
First up, I am regularly asked what camera and lenses I use. So here is my list of gear:

canon digital rebel xsi

canon ef-s 18-200mm f/3.5-f/5.6

canon ef 50mm f/1.8

light scoop

white balance lens cap

capturing couture organza camera strap

Ok so a strap is not necessarily gear, but I love that pretty little camera strap. And I get tons of compliments on it while I'm out and about so I figured it was worth sharing. Moving on :o).

I received my Canon as a graduation gift from my parents in 2008. How did I settle on a Canon? Honestly, I don't remember. I believe I asked my friend Annie what camera she would recommend for an entry level DSLR, and she responded with something like 'Nikons are great (I think she uses a Nikon?) but most parents I know have a Canon.' Obviously I didn't have a child at the time, but I knew at some point in my life the reason I wanted a decent camera was to take pictures of kids. Canons seem to be pretty user friendly and one of my favorite photographers, the lovely Adrienne Maples, uses a Canon. Good enough reasons, right? As I've mentioned before, I would love to upgrade my camera to something with better ISO capabilities. I'm often in low light situations and I don't like the look of 'noisy' pictures. But so far the Canon has served me well.

I pink puffy heart my nifty fifty lens, simply for the fact that I can lower the aperture way down when the light isn't great. Not to mention is was only $100. If you were only going to get one lens in addition to your kit lens I would say that is the way to go (granted I haven't had many other lenses so what do I know? :o). Using a prime lens definitely had a bit of a learning curve at first, you have to zoom with your feet! I think the only problem I've had with my 50mm, is that sometimes I can't get far enough away from Ryann to capture the scene.

I do also love my 18mm-200mm lens as well, but as I've said, I'm not quite as good in manual with that lens, so I tend to favor my 50mm. The only reason I got the 18mm-200mm lens, was because the auto focus on my kit lens stopped working. Some people will say that the kit lenses are nothing but junk, but I still think you can get a great photograph with a kit lens. The gear doesn't make the photo, the photographer does. For some great thoughts on that, scroll down to the 'what gear do you use' question in this post.

The light scoop is a fun little gadget I received for Christmas this year. I'm beating a dead horse here, but the lighting in my house STINKS. I've got a couple stops that get decent light during the day, but overall it is pretty dim and shadowed. And at night, well, I'm pretty much screwed. Not to mention a lot of times I want to take pictures at indoor or evening events and that is when natural lighting is tough to find. Usually I just say screw it, and either shoot with my blinding ugly flash on, or I don't take pictures. Enter the light scoop. It bounces your on camera flash off the ceiling, so you don't end up washing everyone out. The pictures still don't look 100% natural, but in my opinion it is a lot better. Here are some examples that I shot really quickly right after I got it. The images have the same settings, just a variation on the flash.

The white balance lens cap I also received as a Christmas gift, but I haven't played around with it as much. I was hoping it would help me out in lower light situations as well, but it was quite as quick and easy as I was hoping. I'm not quick with it yet so of course I tossed it aside for the time being. But I can see how it could be pretty useful.

Now on to my extensive photography knowledge and tips :o). Because of my graphic design major, I was required to take two photography classes in college (which honestly I would have signed up for anyway, I love taking pictures). There I learned some of the basics of composition, lighting and the technical aspects and terms of photography. But to tell you the truth it didn't really sink in until I wanted to improve the photos I was taking of Ryann. So here is my best attempt at some bulleted tips.

Just keep shooting.
We've discussed that I have an over abundance of photos on my hard drive, correct? Well, that is because I almost always have my camera set to continuous shooting. Meaning the shutter keeps clicking for as long as I hold the button down. Kids are rarely sitting still, nor do they often cooperate with exactly what you want them to do. When I think I'm about to get a decent shot of Ryann, I usually start clicking a second or two before I think I need to, and keep holding for a second after I think I've gotten 'the shot'. I may have 5 to 7 frames of virtually the same thing, but only one of them will be a keeper.

Seek out good lighting.
There is a reason that most of my pictures of Ryann are in one of three places (her high chair, the front wall in our house and in our front yard in the evening). Those locations have the best light, thus creating the least amount of work for me. The best light is generally diffused natural light. You usually want a lot of light, but don't want the sun shining directly on your subject.

Shoot in manual!
Yes, I know that can sound daunting, and maybe you don't want to jump straight to manual, but please please PLEASE stop shooting in automatic mode. Many of you have asked how my photos have improved so quickly over the last several months. One of the major factors is that I switched to full manual mode. Auto is fine and dandy to capture an image, but you don't really get the ability to control the photograph. I used to mainly shoot in aperture mode, but still my camera wouldn't do exactly what I wanted. Duh. Why didn't I just tell it exactly what I wanted? Yes there is a bit of a learning curve, but again, it's digital. Take lots of shots and practice practice practice!

Crop on camera, not on the computer.
Some people will take a series of photos and then go back later and crop to get the composition they want or like the best. That is all fine and dandy, but I believe you will get more interesting shots if you try composing your image while you are shooting it. Take a picture of the entire scene. Move in, get a detail shot. Use your camera to tell the story you want to remember. A little crop here or there to edit out that pair of underwear strewn on the floor on the edge of your scene, well that is probably a good thing :o). But if you start doing some major cropping on the computer you'll lose some of the quality of the photograph.

Change your angle.
All of my 60+ year old neighbors must think I'm nuts. I'm frequently sprawled out on my stomach in the middle of my driveway. One of the easiest ways to play with the look of your photographs is to change the angle in which they are taken. For most pictures of Ryann I try to get down on her level. See the world as she is seeing it. Otherwise I'm always getting pictures partially of the top of her head. Some shots like that can be great, because that is truly how I see her a lot. But it doesn't tell the whole story. So get on your knees. Lay on the ground. Stand on a chair (safely of course :o). Change your angles! Just yesterday Ashley Ann shared a series of photos she took with her iphone from a variety of different angles. It is amazing to see how the scene changes just by moving your body.

Learn the technical junk.
Unfortunately there is no magic button or special camera that can automatically turn out show stopping photographs. You don't have to be a photography genius to take a pretty picture, but it would be incredibly helpful to know a few of the basics. Learn what ISO, aperture, and shutter speed are and what they do to your images. I could try and sit down and explain it all to you, but again, I'm no genius and I'd probably mess it all up. Thankfully people like Shawna and Ashley (who are professionals :o) regularly share great photography information all the time. Search photography tips on pinterest, you'll get plenty of results. If you want somewhere to start, I've read the book Mamarzzi and think that it is excellent for someone trying to get a good handle on their DSLR, especially for those focusing on kiddos :o).

Now the other thing that has changed the look of my photos over the last several months, are free photoshop actions. Namely those provided by the Pioneer Woman. I know my way around the basics of photoshop, but photo editing can take a lot of time. Actions have increased my efficiency, and made photo editing just a little more fun. One thing I will say about actions, is that I rarely use them at 100%. My favorites are 'boost', 'bring out the eyes' and 'sharpen this'. But I generally use them at about 25% opacity.

I thought I'd share a before and after, so you could see what some of my editing looks like. The change is drastic, BUT I am still trying to maintain a natural look. Personally I don't like doing too many crazy things to my photos, simply because I think it dates them or can be trendy. Don't get me wrong, sometimes those looks are fun, and there is a place and a time for them. But for me, I want to preserve my memories as naturally as possible. An important tip though? ALWAYS SAVE THE ORIGINAL. My editing skills have improved quite a bit over the last two years, so it is nice to have some of the originals to go back and re-edit to get a better image. But back to the before and after:

For this photo I used the 'slight sharpen', 'slight lighten', 'sharpen this' (25%), 'bring out the eyes' (25%) and 'lovely and ethereal' (50%) actions. I also slightly corrected the levels and most likely used the healing tool to get rid of some food particles, boogers or rough skin :o). Some people will say it is wrong to fix the blemishes, but again, I am never trying to make the photos look unrealistic. If there is a big ketchup smear on Ryann's chin, that has nothing really to do with why I'm taking the picture, I'm going to edit it out if I can. In the summer I was regularly editing out nasty bug bites. I'm pretty sure it is going to make no difference to Ryann later on in life that I didn't leave the giant red bump on her forehead. I leave everything that is important, or that makes her, well her, but some stuff just isn't necessary.

Wow. Did you make it this far through all of my rambling? I hope this was at least somewhat helpful to a few of you out there. My biggest piece of advice? Just keep trying. Take a million pictures. Practice doesn't ALWAYS make perfect, but it sure helps you learn!

embrace the camera

2012-01-19T08:02:00.000-06:00

So yes. I complained about the weather in Georgia not being as warm as I wanted when we were there. But it was nice. Much much nicer than oh you know, the 17 but feels like 5 it was when I left the house yesterday to go to the gym. Boo. I HATE winter. The only good thing about winter is Christmas, and well, Christmas is over. I'd like to go back to Georgia please.

At some point I'll dump the rest of the photos from Georgia. It essentially looks like Ryann was wandering around by herself since I was generally behind the camera and my mom avoids the thing like the plague. But I'm super happy my mom got the pictures of me and Ryann. Usually Christopher is the only one who can remotely function with my camera, so when he isn't around I tend to get either blurry shots of myself, or simply none at all. But Mom, you did good :o).

Linking up with Emily! Check out all the other fabulous ladies embracing the camera today :o).

a day in the life - shelly

2012-01-18T05:58:00.000-06:00

I meant to post yesterday, but I started reading The Hunger Games and got sucked in. And read 300+ pages. I'm so close to done so I figure I better just finish it so my productivity can go back up :o).

Today I'd like you to meet Shelly. Her family has a special place in my heart, but I'll let her do the talking first!

***

Hi there. I’m Shelly from Mother Hen Book. My husband and I are blessed with Kylie Claire, our almost four year old daughter. My husband and I both work full time, so this post may be a slight different than the traditional ones. We live in Chicago. My husband works from home when not traveling (30%).

Our lives are ruled by routine…So in essence this is our everyday Monday thru Friday.

6:00 am-Alarm goes off and I plea for 15 more minutes of shut eye. But alas, I know I have an early meeting so I pull myself out of bed to get ready.

6:30 am-I turn Kylie’s light on in her room. She likes to slowly wake up, just like the rest of us.

7:15 am-Head out the door. If we leave at this exact time we will miss the commuter trains that run every 15 minutes. Kylie eats her breakfast in the car. It generally consists of one omega vitamin, two vegetable supplements and two fruit supplements. She also eats a piece of fruit or granola bar. She’s not a big eater in the mornings.

7:30 am-Kiss and hug my deary good bye for the day. Don’t get me wrong, we love her school and her teachers, but perhaps the hardest part of my day is leaving her. Fun Fact: Did you know I actually personally know Ashley? She was Kylie’s teacher when we lived in Kansas (until she left us to have the beautiful Ryann).

8:00 am until 4:30 pm-Work. I’m a Regulatory Compliance Manager for Sara Lee. It does not get too much more exciting than this folks (Do you sense my sarcasm?). I have a BS and MS in Food Science & Nutrition. So, in short I provide the nutritionals and ingredient statements for packaging. I also approve any claims (ie Low Fat, Fat Free etc) going on the packaging to make sure they are USDA and FDA compliant. I told you it was exciting…

Anyway, now its 5:00 pm-I go on a run. I have been a runner for years and years and years…more like 15 years. During the week I’ll go between four and six miles a day. I reserve Saturday and Sunday for lengthy runs. Three times a week our Airedale, Hercules, will jog 2 miles with me. Otherwise in Andy’s absence I’ve got to squeeze a short walk in for him at this time too. I run outdoors year round. Winter is perhaps my favorite season…well, until it’s summer and then summer will be my favorite season...

6:15 pm-I go get Kylie if Andy is traveling. If he is not traveling Kylie will already be home by now.

7:00 pm-If Andy is not traveling he makes dinner for us. If he is traveling we fine-dine on peanut butter and jelly (usually). You may be obliged to read more into my thoughts on that here. We seldom watch television during the week…there’s just not enough time in our days. Instead we read books, paint and build stuff, like tents or Lego princess castles.

8:30 pm-Kylie’s bath is had and we snuggle down to read a few good books before drifting off.

10:00 pm-I’m zonked and not looking forward to getting up in the morning. I hit the sack.

Okay, now for perhaps a little more interesting section to read!

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a mom? I’m about to get all sappy here. For me the most surprising thing about being a mom is the capacity of love I hold for this little person. I’ve only known her for four years (ish)…How can I love her this much already? Don’t get me wrong…I can want to scream my head off one minute then the next be in tears over a thoughtful ‘sorry’ or ‘I love you’. I know some mothers say “I love every minute” but I’ll cut the crap and tell you if I loved every minute I wouldn’t be working full time. I love the time I have with her. I love the time I have to expand my horizons as well.

2. What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms? The advice I would give any new or soon-to-be moms is to do it your own way. There’s a whole lot of mom’s out there and a whole lot of different ways to do stuff. There’s a great possibility not one of those ways is right for you and your family. Oh, and remember to laugh.

3. What are your top three baby products? Oh this is a toughy as Kylie is going on four…But probably DaBib was a staple. Soft, absorbent and always fit like a glove. I also was able to use cloth diapers for Kylie’s entire first year (my wonderful in-home caretaker even washed them for me)…Kylie’s bum was so sensitive disposable diapers rashed her out…so I’ll give a shout out to Bum Genius for keeping my kiddo’s bum silky smooth. Lastly I’ll comment on Charlie’s Soap, the detergent I actually used until about six months ago. Fragrance free and never left a poo stain on a Bum Genius.

Thank you Ashley for asking me to participate in your Day in the Life Posts!

***

Thank you for sharing with us Shelly! I seriously can't believe Miss Kylie Claire is almost 4. That little peanut learned to walk in my class! And just because... I have a few photos of kiddos I've taught on my phone that I haven't been able to make myself delete yet. Here are a couple of Kylie :o)

Have a good one!

2012-01-16T06:20:00.000-06:00

Hello from the land of all things fried and buttered! Also known as Georgia :o). Yes I'm sure there are places in Georgia where you can get a healthy meal, but around here I just haven't found it, unless it is iceberg lettuce with a light raspberry vinagrette. That gets old pretty fast.

I felt like I had just sort of 'cleansed' my body, and now I've gone and filled it up with junk again. Nobody's fault but my own, but man. I feel kind of gross. Thankfully there shouldn't be any events or holidays (besides Valentines Day & Ryann's birthday) so hopefully when I get home it will be all fruit and veggies and lean protein.

The incredibly nice thing about being out here in St. Simons? It is FLAT. Yesterday I went out for a seven mile run, and finished with a 9:02 pace. I definitely wish I was going to be around when I needed to do a 10-12 miler! Then again I suppose that doesn't simulate race conditions very well now does it? Neither does running by the ocean, but that definitely makes the run a whole lot more enjoyable :o).

A week from today I officially start training for half marathon number two. I'm mildly dreading the time commitment, but overall I am very excited. For my training, I am combining some elements from Hal Higdon's novice program with elements from his intermediate program. While I was linking those I also discovered he does now have a novice 2 program for the half, but I think I'll stick to what I already have written out. Side note, I did see that there are also interactive training apps (located on the home page). If you're planning on training for a half or a full and using one of his programs, definitely something to check out! After the half I'll be sure to share my training plan and how it went. My goal is to go sub 2, hopefully maintaining a 9 minute (or less!) mile.

Anyone else training for spring races? Are you using a specific plan?

project 366

2012-01-15T21:54:00.000-06:00

Decided to get myself up to date and edit and publish these last three photos. I still can't decide if I want to post them daily or once a week. Would it drive you all nuts to have the pictures come up daily? Obviously it is my blog and I can do what I want :o) but I'm going to have these pictures either way. I know it sometimes gets a little outta hand for me when bloggers have a bajillion posts, so I thought I'd ask.

Seriously. My kid is ridiculous. She has asked for a lemon multiple times. I'm pretty sure half of it is because she likes the reaction she gets from her goofy faces, but she must love torturing herself with the sourness!

week in iphone pics

2012-01-15T13:02:00.000-06:00

Eh, still too lazy to break it up into days. Some days I had three or four photos, and a couple days I only had one. But honestly I think I've been so lax with the iphone pictures lately, because Chris has had more time off the past month. Now he is back in a very time consuming rotation, so I'm trying to take more pictures to be able to text him.

January 8th - 14th

Let's see, the pictures with the flower bib? I was snacking on some Pirates Booty Christopher bought, Ryann saw them and said "Lil Crunchies!" She used to LOVE the crunchies by Gerber, but we stopped buying them because she loved them a little too much. I let her eat some, she was very happy :o).

The cranky face? Apparently she didn't want to shop at Target that day. Seriously, who doesn't want to shop at Target? Things that do make Ryann happy... giant teddy bears, her daddy, Kung Fu Panda coloring books, the beach, bath tub finger paints and her owl towel.

Linking up with Amy!

project 365... err... 366

2012-01-14T09:24:00.000-06:00

It would happen that on the year that I truly decide to embark on a project 365, it is a leap year. Thus it is a project 366. The pessimist in me thinks great, just one more day to fail or forget, but really it should be one more opportunity for a photo I love right?

My project is very much inspired by Andrea of Pink Sugar Photography and her 2011 project, Lila Was Here (you can find Andrea over at adventures in pinksugarland as well now). Her photos are nothing short of gorgeous, and I love that she captured some of the simplest little moments in an amazing way. Amber over at Happiness is Eva is also partaking in a similar project this year.

I'll admit, I struggle with a project like this, because I feel like if every picture isn't perfect or a showstopper, than what is the point? But after just 12 short days, even the photos that I don't love make me super happy when grouped with the others. I'm not quite sure how I plan to share all of these on the blog... weekly, daily, whenever I feel like it, we will see. But for now I thought I'd post January 1-12 before I get too far behind.

Honestly one of the hardest things for me is figuring out how I want the type on the photo. I know I could easily leave the type off, and include it as a caption or something in the book I absolutely WILL print at the end of the year, but both Christopher and I agreed we love how the type looked on Andrea's photos. And with as many random stories and lengthy monthly updates that I share about Ryann, I think just a quick little one to three word title or explanation is nice.

Ok, enough blabbing. The pictures thus far:

This project is definitely going to be a challenge. But I love that it is forcing me to pick up my camera everyday. And it is encouraging me to get out my camera at times or places I usually wouldn't.

Anyone else doing a photo project this year?

this and that

2012-01-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

:: I'm trying to put together a post with my photography gear and tips, but it is just taking me a lot longer than I planned. Sorry.

:: Ryann and I are headed to Georgia with my mom and her friend (hi Jean!). The weather is freaking killing me. I was so look forward to a trip with weather in the mid 60's to low 70's. Why don't we just take a look at the forecast shall we?

(took these screen shots Thursday afternoon)

It was 65-70 there this entire week. The day we show up? 52. Figures. And by the way, we come back Tuesday. Oh why yes, that would be the day it is 69. Seriously weather? Seriously? Yes, it sounds much better than the 19 degrees but feels like 5 it is outside as I type this. But it is supposed to be in the low to mid 50's in KC this weekend as well.

:: Out take. Teehee.

:: So I've completely lost my mind. You may have seen on facebook that I've decided I want to nearly cover the ceiling in our living room and dining room with tissue poms for Ryann's birthday party. I'm pretty sure my mom is ready to strangle me. Not to mention I have three other projects I want to make for the party that use mini tissue poms. So I probably need to make 200-300 tissue poms, including the little ones. Ridiculous much? Absolutely. But I feel like it could look so cool and I simply can't let it go. If anyone feels like coming over and folding tissue paper, let me know :o).

:: Speaking of the party and the million things I need to do... now I really want to get my butt in gear and finish a few little projects around the house. Christopher is worried I'm going to stress myself out. He's probably right. But my mind is going a million miles an hour. Which is most likely the explanation for my insomnia these days I suppose :o).

:: I've been slowly adding to this post all day (Thursday). It is now 10:13pm, our flight leaves in 12 hours (which means I leave the house in 10!) and I haven't packed a single clothing item for myself yet. Fail.

:: On that note I realized I should probably give up on writing a decent post and start packing. Setting this to publish in the morning now!

embrace the camera

2012-01-12T06:22:00.000-06:00

Chris was gone from before six in the morning until sometime after eight in the evening yesterday. Which it was just me and my girl yesterday. We went to the gym, had a little play date, wasted some time at Target, and after the wee one insisted on taking a shower instead of a bath we had a little photo shoot. Of course. :o)

Go forth and embrace (I'm aware that I'm weird). And make sure to visit Emily's blog to join in with everyone else!

a day in the life - laura

2012-01-11T06:27:00.000-06:00

Kicking us off with 'a day in the life' this year (after myself I guess...) is Laura! I hope you enjoy getting a little peek at her day. Happy hump day!

***

I'm Laura, 35-year-old mom to Shelby (22 months) and another baby girl on the way (due in May). I blog over at Payette Pigtails, mostly about adventures with Shelby. Here's a look at a weekend day in our life, documented this past Saturday (since weekdays we're at work/school).

3:30am - I'm up to pee. Pregnancy is fun like that. I take the other half of my Ambien and watch a bit of Almost Famous to help me fall back asleep. I toss and turn the rest of the night, mostly sleeping (I think).

7:00am - I take out my earplugs and listen for Shelby. At first I think she's still asleep (ha!), but then I hear her talking to herself in bed. I tiptoe into the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. She hears me and starts saying, "Mommy. Mommy!" in her outside voice. Let the day begin.

7:00am-7:30am - I change Shelby's diaper and take off her jammies. She can kind of do this herself now, but she doesn't want to help unzip them today. She also doesn't want to use the potty when I offer. No big deal. She demands to, "Eat! Eat!" so we head downstairs for breakfast.

I let her sit in the "big chair" and give her a cereal bar so she can't make too much of a mess. I sit down next to her with my own bar while I wait for coffee to brew. I let myself have a little bit of caffeine every morning to help kick-start my brain.

Nearly half an hour later Shelby's still working on her cereal bar, which she's crumbled into pieces. She used to eat breakfast pretty well, but lately she just plays with her food. It makes getting out of the house on weekdays challenging. Today I let her watch some videos from our trip to California. She wants, "More, more," but I finally turn them off, wipe her face and hands, and convince her to head downstairs.

7:30-8:15am - I actually bribe Shelby downstairs by telling her I have something for her. It's true; I shipped a box of Christmas presents back from California and they arrived the day before. I'm hopeful she'll be excited to see them again and that she'll want to play with them for a while. Hahahahaha! She glanced at them for a few minutes and then moved on to her easel.

We spend most of the next hour shuffling between toys downstairs, never spending more than five minutes with any one thing. Shelby is a busybody. About once a day she'll focus on something and stick with it. Otherwise, it's like chasing the Tazmanian devil; it's exhausting.

8:15-8:30am - I manage to get Shelby to go upstairs (we have a tri-level) to brush her hair and teeth. This is always a battle and today is no different. She wants nothing to do with her toothbrush (I recently made her first dentist appointment because of this), but she does want to brush her hair, which means she wields the brush everywhere and then cries when I take it away to actually brush her mane. Somehow I get her to at least put the toothbrush in her mouth while I get put hair into half-pigtails.

8:30-9:00am - It's time to get ready to go to the doctor. Shelby's had a rash since before we went to California and nothing seems to be helping it, so after three calls to the advice nurse (over the last two weeks), we're finally going in. I pack Shelby's diaper bag while she pushes her baby doll around the kitchen in the stroller. All of a sudden she says, "No, no poop!" Clearly, she's pooping, although she always denies it.

A few minutes later she says, "Peeyoo poop!" I look at the clock and calculate that I should have enough time to change her and get to the doctor's office without rushing; it's just down the street. Of course, getting into the car is a challenge. Shelby wants to take every toy in the house with her. I tell her no and pick her up like a football, expecting a tantrum. Amazingly, she doesn't cry, but she also doesn't make it easy to get her strapped in the car seat. Is it nap time yet? I'm tired.

9:00-9:30am - We're seen pretty quickly, which is nice. Shelby got to stand on the big girl scale for the first time; she weighs 27.2 pounds. The doctor confirmed that it's probably a yeast rash but said it could also be eczema. Apparently they look very similar. We're to alternate using anti-fungal cream and hydrocortisone cream for the next couple of weeks until it's gone. Hopefully, one of them will work. Poor Shelby says, "Itch, itch," every time I change her diaper and then touches herself like mad.

9:30-11:30am - Chris is awake when we get home. Yea, relief for the mama! Shelby saw a banana in her diaper bag at the doctor and asked for it the whole way home, so we have a snack. Then Chris and I take turns playing with Shelby and doing house chores. I get a load of laundry folded and the floor vacuumed. Shelby loves the vacuum and tries to help. I notice that my lower back is killing me; it feels like I pulled every muscle in it. I haven't felt that before with this pregnancy, so I hope it's a fluke. It's really uncomfortable.

As it nears Shelby's lunchtime I realize I'm starving, so I start thinking about what we can eat. There's rarely any food made, so it's always a challenge to figure out what can be whipped together in 0.2 seconds. I decide I want some eggs, so I make a scramble with frozen veggies and some already cooked ground turkey, and lay out yogurt, a veggie pouch, and a Chik patty for Shelby.

11:30am-12:30pm - All three of us eat lunch together. It doesn't often happen that way, but I'll take it! Chris and I have the scramble and Shelby coats herself in yogurt. The kid is seriously messy when she eats. She also has her veggie pouch but then she wants our eggs instead of her Chik patty. Chris gives her a side of ketchup and she dips her eggs in wholeheartedly, eating at least as much ketchup as egg. She's recently fallen in love with dipping her food in ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce, you name it.

We clean up and go upstairs for a nap. Instead of going right to bed, though, Shelby plays with her Little People carriage and princess at the window, watching for snow. (It had started to lightly flurry, but it quickly abated.) I finally forced the issue, changing her diaper and putting her in her sleep sack. Then she wanted, "House!" (the book The Little House), so I "read" it to her one time. (I paraphrase the story as we look at most of the pictures.) She threw a fit when I said we were all done. I barely got her into her crib before she flailed out of my arms. I sang her one song, kissed her, and walked out the door.

12:30-3:20pm - Naptime! I listen to Shelby roll around in her crib for a while before she finally conks out. I have every intention of starting this blog post, but I realize I've left the cord downstairs and the laptop has about a minute of battery life left before it dies, so I opt to read instead. Finally I get up to check Shelby, get some more food, and grab the laptop cord. I start this post and then take a bath, hoping the warm water will make my back feel better. It doesn't, but a bath sure is nice.

I've barely gotten dressed and sat down again before I hear Shelby's little voice. I give her a couple of minutes and she quiets down. I guess she's back to sleep? I don't want to check for fear of waking her. I go dry my hair since we'll need to leave once she does get up. I also pack her snacks and put her diaper bag in the car. It's started snowing lightly.

Shelby's still not awake, so I eat a pb+j. I've been living off those and cereal lately. I finally go back upstairs to peek at Shelby. Zonked out! We're going to need to jet the second she wakes up. We were supposed to be at a party at 2pm and it takes us 20-25 minutes to get there. Good thing most of the other kids coming are also napping right now. At least we won't be the only ones fashionably late. I decide to look up some recipes; maybe I'll actually make something tomorrow?

3:20-4:00pm - She's finally awake! Shelby hasn't napped this well in a while. Of course it would be on a day we actually need to get somewhere, but I'm not really complaining. She takes a while getting up; she used to pop right up after sleeping, but now she likes to cuddle her lovey and stuffed animals. Chris is trying to help my cause and he entices her out of bed by telling her she can look at the snow that's falling.

I manage to change Shelby's diaper and clothes and even fix her ponytails, which are all funny looking following her nap. I get her buckled into the car seat and give her some raisins to eat, but then I can't find my keys. Good grief. This happens to me every day. I whine at Chris and pout through the house while looking for them in a panic. I find them in the pocket of my coat, in the car. Naturally. Finally we're off to Kara's for her gender reveal party. She's due with baby #2 four days before me. Fortunately, I'm one of the lucky few who already know the gender, so while I missed the reveal via cake cutting, we still make it in time to play.

4:00-6:00pm - The second we walk in the door Shelby freezes, turns around, and clings to my legs for dear life. Seriously? This kid is socialite numero uno, but sometimes she gets really shy when we first arrive somewhere. She sits in my lap for what seems like a long time before getting up to play with her friends.

Shelby and Auntie 'N'

I love play dates and get togethers; it's so much easier to watch Shelby when I'm not her only source of entertainment. Today Kara's house is packed with kids Shelby knows (and some she doesn't), so once she's off playing she's happy as a clam. Auntie N (my sister) is also there and helps keep an eye on her. It doesn't hurt that Shelby gets to eat cake. Mmmm.

playing with Thatcher before we head home

6:00-7:30pm - We head home and have some dinner. Shelby actually ate some of Kara's chili at the party, which is amazing because it was mostly vegetables and Shelby almost never eats veggies unless they're in a veggie pouch. I was impressed. Anyway, she wasn't really into dinner as a result. She actually rejects her pb+j, which she usually loves. Then she eats a few bites of cheese, but she starts banging her fork and kicking her high chair (something we've been trying to put the kibosh on), so she loses her cheese-eating privilege (it's one of her favorite foods).

My back is still killing me, so Chris "flies" Shelby around the room until his arms hurt and then we sit on the couch and let Shelby listen to music on his headphones. She learned how to hold them to her ears just before our trip to California. Pretty soon it's 7:00pm and time to get ready for bed.

Usually I'd give Shelby a bath, but I'm not up to it and she's not that dirty, so Chris takes her up to brush her teeth and I handle a diaper change and jammies. I kind of feel bad putting her to bed already since she napped late, but this is her normal bedtime. I read "House" with her (yes, again) and then leave her with Chris for songs.

7:30-9:45 - I'm wiped. I climb into bed to finish writing this post and upload and edit photos. Shelby cries because she doesn't want to go to sleep, but within 20 minutes it's quiet in her room. I realize that if there's any hope of cooking tomorrow I'll need to make a grocery list so I can shop in the morning. I used to love to cook, but that was before Shelby. Now it's really hit or miss as to whether anything gets made. Maybe it's the pregnancy, but lately I'm just not inspired by any recipes no matter how many I look at. And let's face it, when I leave grocery shopping until Sunday morning and then expect to cook a week's worth of food that afternoon while entertaining a toddler? Well, it just doesn't often happen.

9:45pm - Time for bed. I turn into a pumpkin early these days; I have to if I want to get enough sleep. I take my Ambien (half now, the other half when I wake up in the middle of the night) and read a bit to get sleepy. I've had major insomnia issues since Shelby was born, so the fact that I've been sleeping decently lately is wonderful. I cue a DVD so I have something to watch at 3am and then turn out the light. Good night! Thanks for peeking in to one of our days.

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
How much patience and love you can find within yourself even when you're exhausted and about to crack.

2. What advice would you give new or soon-to-be moms?
Be kind to yourself. Being a mom is HARD. You'll do the best you can given your circumstances; try not to second guess whether it's good enough for your child(ren). As long as you show them you love them, it is.

3. What are your top three baby products?
That's a toughie because it's been a while and it may be different with baby #2, but I'd say:

Wubbanub: Shelby was a huge pacifier kid; the attached animals helped us keep track of the pacifiers and, later, allowed Shelby to hold them by herself
Woombie: Best swaddle ever (for us)
Medela Pump-In-Style: I pumped exclusively for seven months when feeding at the breast didn't work. This, along with a hands-free bra, made it possible to give Shelby at least some breast milk. I even pumped in the car!

***

Thank you for sharing your day with us Laura! I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well!

our 2011 advent calendar

2012-01-10T13:33:00.000-06:00

Whoot! Finally! Getting the last of the holiday posts up. Today I'm going to share our advent calendar from this year and the 'activities' we did.

I had a tough time deciding what kind of advent calendar I wanted at first. There are so many cute ones on pinterest and I'm the most indecisive person ever. But ultimately I decided I wanted something that was easy to change out the activities, and that was also pretty portable since Ryann and I are frequently back and forth between my parents house and our house.

First I designed a layout in inDesign, because using my computer in craft projects surprisingly makes me happy. Plus it was just easier for me to create an accurate grid that way. Then my mom cut out all the pieces for me (except the numbers, I helped with that!) and sewed it together. I believe the numbers are just glued on, I honestly can't remember right now. My mom said it was incredibly tough to sew. For some reason everything wouldn't stay lined up as she was sewing, the felt just stretched and moved around. No biggie, Ryann doesn't care if it isn't straight.

To make the little activity cards I used my silhouette to cut a shape out of red and green cardstock. I actually didn't write the activity on the card and put it in the pocket until the day we were going to do that particular activity. It worked better for me for a couple reasons, one was that it made it easier for me to rearrange the days if something came up, and the second being that then Ryann couldn't just randomly reorganize it herself and totally throw me off :o). She didn't 100% get the concept of doing one a day, for her it was just fun to grab a card out of the calendar and asked me what it said. But she loved that thing just the same.

I know our activities will change over the years. In the future I plan to include more activities involving charities and helping others, but I knew Ryann wouldn't fully understand that or appreciate it yet. So for now I kept the activities extremely easy just to see if we would even keep up with it. I won't lie, towards the end we might have missed a day or two, but again, Ryann never noticed or cared. And I know every year I will find more ideas for activities, and I'm so happy to be able to start this tradition with our little family. Here is the list of activities I used this year (and yes, we saw Santa like 3 times. It just happened like that :o):

play Christmas music and put up decorations
make a gingerbread person craft
have breakfast with Santa
decorate the Christmas tree
open a gift
visit Santa Claus
go to Starbucks for hot chocolate
open and read a holiday book
deliver treats to friends (hi Kenzie!)
watch a Christmas movie
make a snowman craft
make Christmas cards
put and jammies and drive around to see Christmas lights
make gifts for your teachers
open and read a holiday book
have friends over and make ornaments
paint a winter picture
make and decorate cookies
make a gingerbread house
color a Christmas picture
visit Santa Claus
wrap presents
make fudge
go to a Christmas party
read the birth story of Jesus

I highly recommend that winter (tree) picture painting. Clicking the link will take you to a tutorial I found via pinterest. It was easy, actually turned out decently, and was a craft that Ryann could do without me actually helping. The other crafts she enjoyed, simply because it was something different, but I had to really do a lot. The finger painting she could go to town on by herself, and thought it was pretty awesome when I showed her what it looked like after I took the tape off. Oh, and for the gingerbread people craft, I just cut a shape out with my silhouette and then hand traced the clothes and such to stick on. Incredibly easy.

The gift she got to open was a Little People Santa train set, and the books were Snowmen at Christmas and Llama Llama Holiday Drama. I don't really want to make the advent calendar just about opening gifts, but right now it is a good way to build up our holiday book and toy collection.

I think that about covers it, let me know if you have any questions!

back on track + goal setting

2012-01-09T13:38:00.000-06:00

Wow. As much as I love sweets and all the delicious food that surrounds the holidays, I feel SO MUCH BETTER after a week of eating fairly healthy. It is ridiculous. The last couple of weeks I was getting pretty bad headaches, which I'm going to assume were caused by not enough water and way too much sugar, well and maybe lack of sleep.

This past week I was MUCH better about eating healthier meals, and besides the occasional dark chocolate chips I stole from the cabinet (a bad habit that I really need to break), and my one sweet treat I plan a day I really didn't have any excess junk. I'm still not getting enough sleep, but that is because my insomnia is creeping back up. I lay awake for an hour or two in the middle of the night, or I'm wide awake all on my own at 5am. Not sure why that is happening, but oh well, that is not what I really wanted to talk about. The important point to make, is I can't believe that I used to feel gross almost all the time. I was always eating unhealthy meals and too much junk, and I just felt miserable. Why did I do that to myself? I'm so happy that I've changed my habits.

And the other good news? I'm back down to .4 pounds under my goal weight. Huzzah!

On that note, a friend has sent me a couple texts asking about my weighloss/healthy living journey, and I thought one question in particular was a good one to share. How did I decide what my goal weight was? I think it is all too easy to set unrealistic goals that one might fail to achieve. And if too many failures occur, you're bound to give up.

In my ideal world? I would totally weigh 10-15 pounds less than I do now. And the reality is I could probably get there. But I would have to change my eating habits even more drastically than I already have, and put in a little more effort at the gym. It is doable, but the truth is I'm not ready or willing to do that right now. So there is no use in having that goal number hanging around when I don't plan on doing anything to get there, and just beating myself up for trying harder.

My first deciding factor was that I wanted to get in the normal or healthy BMI range. Obviously the BMI calculators can't take into account your muscle mass or things like that, but for my body and build I knew it was suitable scale to go off. The second thing that helped me pick that goal number, was selecting a weight that I knew I felt good about myself at. I currently weigh about 2-3 pounds less than I did in the photos I shared of myself (that I was using as inspiration) when I started my journey. I knew that weight was possible for me to maintain while not being overly restrictive with my diet.

Another good goal to set is body fat percentage. This is obviously a bit more difficult because you have to be able to calculate your body fat, but it is an excellent way to check your progress and set realistic goals without looking at the scale. The average body fat percentage for women is 25-31%, while the fit range is 21-24%. So another part to my goal is not to go above 22%. When I was working with my trainer I got down to 17.7% and I was mostly very happy with the way my body looked. I can guarentee you I am getting closer to the 22% number again, simply because I've stopped doing so much weight training. Nonetheless I think monitoring your body fat percentage is an excellent way to help set realistic goals.

I hope all that rambling was slightly helpful for someone :o). How did you arrive at your weightloss/fitness goals?

week in iphone pics

2012-01-08T06:29:00.000-06:00

Well really, two weeks. And it is a big of a mess this week. I've been really bad about taking pictures with my phone the last couple of weeks. I think partly because we've been doing lots of stuff that I've carried my big camera for, and partly because I just got lazy. But no biggie. So here are two giant jumbled messes of pictures from the last two weeks.

Things to mention... yes, my child has underwear on her head. I showed her the underwear we bought for her, and told her if she wanted to be a big girl we could wear it. Later I found her digging it out of her drawers and putting it on her head. No joke. The Missoni trench? I can't stand the cuteness. And all the yellow balls, she got mine out for me :o). And the last shot is of her in Best Buy while Chris and I were trying to look at printers.

Oh, and there are several shots similar to the one above in my photo library now. Ryann loves to play the music on my phone from the lock screen, but with the newer software the camera button is also there. I appreciate the easy access to the camera, but man, I have a lot of pictures of Ryann from the nose up.

Things to mention... we brought all the beanie babies out of my parents attic. My sister and I had an absurd number of them. Ryann freaking loves them. At least it wasn't all for nothing right? :o) A cheeto dust covered smile (thanks Christopher), some extreme post nap bed head and just a whole bunch of cuteness. Chris and Ryann snuggled in the bed? I love it.

I really need to get instagram or something where I can put filters on the pictures afterward for the occasional pictures I take with the regular phone camera (I usually use hipstamatic). Nonetheless, serious accessorizing has become pretty popular around here. I love it!

Maybe this week I'll be better at taking pictures from day to day, but we shall see.

this and that

2012-01-07T15:35:00.000-06:00

:: Yesterday I let Ryann played itsy bitsy spider on my phone while we wandered Super Target. It was fantastic, except for the part where I found a million things I wanted to buy. I wanted to link to a bunch of it, or make a big collage of all the stuff, but the Target website and I weren't getting along. I did take a picture of some storage bins that are pretty much made for my house. I'm just not sure where to put them...

:: I'm sure I've been living under a rock or something, but I recently came across the whole 'project life' business via here via pinterest. I love how seemingly easy it is, and the scrapbook feel. I also like that the pictures are actually printed out. This is probably a stupid thing to think about, but I randomly thought, what if Ryann needs to bring in a picture to school or something, and all I have is digital photobooks? I mean obviously if I have all the digital files saved I can print a copy, but it would be nice to have some printed copies preserved as well. I'm sure there are several other good alternatives to full out scrapbooking too.

:: Have you heard of plasma cars? I of course hadn't until Shawna mentioned them (because she seems to know about all the really awesome baby/kid stuff :o). And then they were on Zulilly for $40. So 'Ryann' got two for Christmas. Come on as soon as I saw they could hold up to 220 pounds I was all over it, so was Christopher. Ryann can work them, but the video I have of her doing it includes my sister and parents talking about how her New Year's Eve went... yeah. So here is a video of Christopher and Auntie Lorin taking them for a spin around the kitchen. I also have a video of my dad taking it down the ramp in front of their house, but the stupid thing won't upload to my computer.

:: Speaking of videos, here are a couple of Ryann. The first is just an incredibly awkward laugh that I captured. Seriously. She freaks me out a bit. The second is her attempt at jumping along with some spinning. Whenever she counts before she jumps it is never to the same number. Love it.

:: Trying to make good on my resolutions, I started deleting photos from my computer. I hope to delete an average of at least 100 a day until I've really paired down my files. Obviously I won't always be in front of my computer everyday, but I figured if I intentionally sat down and deleted 100 photos each day that I could, that would make a decent dent. As long as I don't average 100 photos a day that is... which can happen. Oy. Today my total went from 49,739 to 49,286. That is progress right? I suppose the responsible thing to do would be to delete my 100 photos a day, plus the non-keepers from any I upload that day right? :o)

:: I'm pretty sure I've declared my love for nutella more than once around here. I don't know why but I can't get enough of that stuff. I've done a pretty good job limiting my intake, but did you know that February 5th has been declared World Nutella Day (you should, I've mentioned it before:o)? We have got to do something to celebrate folks. I will most likely have a peanut butter, nutella & banana sandwich for breakfast, and bake something with nutella in it (possibly these, they are perfect for February right?). But I think I need to do something for the blog that day... possibly a nutella linky party? What do you all think? Yes, I understand this is teetering on the edge of ridiculous, but come on :o). And you all think I'm totally weird now...

:: This is day seven of attempting to take a photo a day of Ryann. I can already tell you it is going to be TOUGH, and for a few reasons. One of course, is not forgetting. I mean I usually have one between my cell phone or my big camera, but I really want one a day from DSLR. Two, it is tough for me to always get a shot that I love, as well as not always taking pictures of the same thing or in the same location. I really really REALLY hope I can keep it up though. I do love the photos that I've gotten. At some point I'll figure out how I'm going to share them on the web.

:: I decided that a project 52 and a project 365 (366 this year!) might be too much. Especially considering that I rarely keep up with anything that long, let alone two things. And I just haven't settled on a theme that seems like something I would want to focus on for an entire year, or that I would be completely happy with. But I thought about compiling 52 images similar to the one below (but you know, not always the happy smiling one). I am always taking pictures in that spot because it has the best light and the blankest wall in our house. That way when I fail at my project 365 I have something to fall back on, you know? :) I think it would make a cute little 5x7 photo book, 52 faces of Ry.

That's all for now. Have a good one!

teacher gifts

2012-01-06T06:12:00.000-06:00

These pictures were uploaded December 17th. I obviously meant to share them a while ago. Whoops! This craft is nothing new or inventive, it has definitely made its way around the web, but it is so easy that I had to share it. Ryann's teachers absolutely loved theirs (well, at least that is what they told me :o)!

I first saw instructions for this doily canvas bag over on the lovely Ashley Campbell's blog, Under the Sycamore. (Side note, check out her diy page, there are so many fun project I would love to try!) Then my bestie made us our own bags as bridesmaids gifts at her wedding.

Always running behind me didn't start the project until like 5pm the night before I wanted to take them to Ryann's school. So I was trying to make these, make snacks to go in them and take care of my child. I didn't end up putting the finishing touches on until 11:30pm, but honestly, total time spent on all three bags? Probably less than three hours. (Side note, I should not write posts early in the morning, I originally typed less than three HOUSES. Whatever.)

A few tips... because I was rushing my way through them, I attempted the first doily without the spray adhesive because I couldn't find mine in the two seconds I looked. Big mistake, it definitely didn't work out for me. The bag still looked ok, but the ones where I did use the spray adhesive went much much better. Also, make sure you use a smaller brush. I was using a smallish (ok maybe medium sized) foam brush, and it was hard to get those little spots on the edges without going over the side of the doily. To do the letters, I used my silhouette machine to cut the letters out of thicker cardstock, and stuck the paper down with the spray adhesive as a stencil. Like the paper the letter was cut out of, how come I can't think of the words to describe that part? Oh well, I'm sure you can figure it out :o).

In the bag I included two mason jars, one filled with chocolate covered pretzels I made, and the other with this s'mores popcorn snack mix. Mmmm... that stuff was pretty tasty! We also made some cute little handprint santa cards to write our holiday message in, you can find the instructions here. I umm, didn't take the time to make the pink cheeks. It obviously would have been much cuter had I done that, but again, I was a little last minute and a little lazy.

Oh yes, a certain little someone was rather annoyed while I was trying to take these pictures. She just wanted to touch everything and pick it up, you know, carry it elsewhere. Especially the santa card. Oy. :o) I was going a bit crazy. We were already late to 'school', there was barely any light in the house, and it was take pictures then or never! I'm just sad I forgot to take a picture of all three bags together.

I still have pictures and information to share about our advent calendar. If I'm lucky I'll get it up in the next few days or so. You know, before it is like March or something. It may very well be after Christmas, but you can always save the ideas for next year, right? And if I don't write down all the activities we did I'll surely forget.

Have a good one!

embrace the camera

2012-01-05T06:22:00.000-06:00

While heading to my parent's for New Years, we made a little pit stop in Lawrence. My wifey was in town. (And if you need an explanation, one time, when I may or may not have been rather intoxicated, I told Chris [while Whitney was listening] in another life if I was a boy I'd totally marry her. She has since been my wifey :o)

ryann was playing peekaboo behind the camelbak

It was so so so good to see Whitney. She all up and moved to Philly last summer... even though we didn't see each other super regularly while she was in Lawrence, it was still a lot easier than hopping a plane to fly to the coast. Thankfully I still get to keep up with her via her blog. That makes me happy. And hopefully she will be moving back to the midwest in the nearish future! :o)

Also Whitney captured this lovely little gem of our family while we were out to breakfast. Chris and Ryann look so incredibly happy, which of course makes me incredibly happy. I don't look quite as excited as they do, but I'm pretty sure it was because I was trying to keep the wiggle monster from bashing her head into the table while she tried to escape the photo op.

Have you embraced the camera lately?

a day in {my} life

2012-01-04T10:38:00.000-06:00

Seriously, I cannot believe I've been running these posts for well over a year. Thank you so much to all of the women who have volunteered to let us peek at your day. I hope everyone is finding new blogs to read, and learning from other moms out there.

Today you get yet another look at a day in my life. Lately it doesn't feel like the days change all that much, but it is still fun (and kind of exhausting) for me to try and detail the whole thing. I hope you enjoy!

***

December 30th, 2011

5:00am: I start tossing and turning in bed. I've turned into a bit of an insomniac again, and it is driving me crazy! Chris's alarm goes off just before 6:00am, and around 6:30am I give up on falling back asleep and hop on the laptop.

6:44am: The little miss starts chatting it up with herself in the crib. Guess it is officially morning time! I quickly throw on my workout gear before going in to see her. She immediately asks for two things, her vitamins and for me to read Corduroy. She recently discovered that book on her shelf, and I've read it a bajillion times since. After reading the book three times, I convince Ryann to let me get her dressed so we can have breakfast. I make us both some peanut butter toast, she has hers with a side of blueberries and milk, I top mine with 1/2 a smashed banana and grab my camelbak. After breakfast we head to the family room for a little bit of playtime.

8:28am: We are in the car on the way to the gym. I call my mom nearly every morning at this time. Even if I have nothing to tell her I feel like I have to call her. Love you mom :). Even though I'm not in the mood for the treadmill, I manage to cover 6.2 miles. I'll take it.

10:04am: We are done at the gym and heading back home. Ryann starts freaking out in the backseat because the sun is in her eyes. Of course all of her sunglasses are at home. Mommy fail. When we make it back to the house it is time for a snack. Ryann has grapes, bunny grahams and milk, because she throws a giant fit when I offer her water. I make myself of bowl of yogurt with oatmeal squares and raisins. After snack I really want to get some picking up done around the house, it has been a disaster for quite some time. But Ryann insists that I color with her. So I do.

11:40am: When I turn the oven on for Ryann's lunch, I sneak a snicker's out of the candy jar. Then I realize I am absolutely starving, so instead of eating more candy I opt to make my own lunch and inhale it while Ryann's is cooking. I use some leftover chicken taco filling and lettuce to make myself a taco salad. After putting my bowl in the dishwasher, I finish putting together Ryann's lunch: salmon stixs, a fruit cup and the water she refused at snack time. After lunch I try and clean up the kitchen, wipe down the counters and grab the vacuum to deal with an excessive crumb situation. In the meantime Ryann drags half her toys from the family room to the living room. I guess I'll be dealing with that later. Oh well, the kitchen is clean, I read Ryann a few books and get her ready for nap time.

the ginger had to eat lunch with us. they were having a conversation :o).

12:58pm: Ryann is in her crib so I jump in the shower. Then I hang out on the internet for a while, reading blogs and working on Ryann's 21 month post. Chris only had a half day of clinic, so he is home around 2pm.

2:53pm: I had turned the monitor off because it tends to interfere with our wireless internet, and was surprised to hear Ryann singing songs in her room. It wasn't necessarily a short nap, but not really a long nap for her either. She usually sleeps until at least 3:30. Oh well, Ryann and I have a snack, apples and pretzel fish for her, a Sargento cheese stick for me.

3:28pm: We all head out to best buy in search of a new printer for me. Unfortunately they don't carry any large format printers in the store, and I can't yet imagine not having the ability to print larger than 8.5x11. Silly, because I rarely ever print things that large, but I know as soon as I purchase a smaller printer I'll want to print posters or something. We make a pit stop at Caters before heading home, I had a punch card that expired on the 31st that I wanted to use. When we make it back home I do a little speed cleaning.

before we left to run errands. an extremely attractive picture of the both of us. (i hope you can hear the sarcasm.)

5:10pm: Christopher's mom arrives, with a stuffed dog you can color with markers and Bambi. I swear neither Grandma ever arrives at our house empty handed :o). She is watching Ryann for us while we head to a holiday party for the evening. We don't need to leave until after 6, so while they play together in the family room, I spend a good chunk of time putting on make-up, fixing my hair and trying on way too many different outfits. Why is it I never feel like I have the right thing to wear?

we've been trying to teach her how to hold up two fingers. apparently it is really tough.

6:36pm: Christopher and I head out to party sans child. This rarely happens. I feel a wee bit giddy knowing that we will get to stay out past 8pm! The party is hosted by my bestie and her mom, so my parents are there as well. It was an incredibly fun evening, and Sheryl did an amazing job with all the food. I ate A LOT :).

11:34pm: I can't believe we stayed out until 11pm. That may not seem very late for most of you, but for us home bodies who rarely use a babysitter and have a kid that wakes up before 7am? That is LATE. I play on my laptop a bit before finally rolling over and going to sleep. Good night!

***

That about sums it up! I've got a (mostly) new list of moms ready to share their days with you, scheduled through May. I hope you are still enjoying the series! Have a good one :o).

new years eve + my 2012 goals

2012-01-03T15:11:00.000-06:00

First I thought I'd slip in some photos from our little New Years celebration. It was quite the exhausting weekend, we stayed up past 11pm two nights in a row! I know, we are wild kids. We started the evening off with a nice dinner at my parents house, plus some party hats and party poppers. Then Christopher, Ryann and I headed over to our friend's house. Ryann was only there for about 45 minutes before Christopher took her back to my parents to put her to bed. Once she was asleep he came back to celebrate the new year with everyone.

a few of my favorite girls. i was so happy to see them.

it was the first time in over a year that the four of us were able to get together!

Looking back at my 2011 New Year's post (which is extra fun because I love love LOVE those pictures of Ryann :o), I am proud and encouraged to say I feel as though I accomplished everything I hoped for. I didn't set up any specific goals, but I think over the past year I definitely changed for the better. I learned a lot about myself. I am stronger. I am wiser. I am better.

In 2012 I definitely hope to continue striving for all of the things I hoped for last year: to take better care of myself and my body. To be a good mom, a loving wife, a wonderful daughter, a caring friend. To find balance between my needs and the needs of others. But this year I also feel strongly about setting some more specific goals. I'm no longer as scared of failing. I know if I put my mind to something I can do it. I just have to suck it up and try :o).

My 2012 Goals
1. Accomplish my fitness goals.
I explained all of my fitness goals in this post. But really the biggest for me? Just keep running :o).

2. Be more organized.
Seriously. I have to work on this. I need to write to-do lists. I need to clean out closets. I need to set aside a specific time for answering e-mails and comments. Being more organized would just make my life function more smoothly, and who doesn't want that?

3. Complete a photo project.
This year I love love loved both Shawna's project 52, and the daily photos over at Lila Was Here. Both women shared such gorgeous photos, and I can only imagine how amazing it must feel to have all of those shots that can be compiled into an awesome series. I would love to do a project 52, but I am struggling with an idea for a theme. I want the photos to relate to my family, to Ryann and to myself, because I am always wanting to capture our memories. I'm just not sure how to give the photos more meaning and a cohesive subject. I will also (hopefully!) be taking at least one photo of Ryann a day. I know it will be tough to stick with it, but I am sure going to try.

4. Learn more about photography and using my camera.
In order to get shots I love for the above photo projects, I need to learn more about photography. I know enough to capture some decent shots, but I know there is more I could do. And I'm extra bad with anything other than my nifty fifty lens. I just don't know how to compose the larger shots as well, or deal with the changing aperture when I zoom.

5. Start selling my invitation designs.
For a few years I've strictly done custom design work. But people are saving pennies wherever they can, which means the market for custom designed wedding invitations is relatively small. In an attempt to make some of my own money, I hope to sell designs that can be customized with the clients personal information, and that they can print on there own. I will hopefully have wedding stationery as well as party printables. This one may take me a while to get going, but I've got just under 12 months to get started!

6. Have blog books printed.
Seriously. I have 2.5 years of my life saved on the web. I tend to assume it will always be there, but I know of more than one blogger (on wordpress, not blogger) whose posts all disappeared overnight. They might have been able to get them back, but could you imagine? That would be terrible. So next time I get a coupon code for Blog2Print I think I might have to jump on it.

7. Clear out some of the photos on my hard drive and have photo books printed.
Brace yourself. There are currently 49,068 photos on my computer. Don't mind the fact that my computer crashed in July of 2010 and I lost thousands. That my friends, is absurd. I have WAY too many photos hanging out on my hard drive. And barely any printed. I'm now backed up on an external, so hopefully nothing catastrophic will happen, but this is something I really REALLY need to work on.

8. Be more productive.
Obviously that is kind of broad, but I waste a lot of time on the internet and watching TV. It is very easy for me to get distracted on the internet, because most of my work is done on the computer. I'll take a five minute break from an invitation set that turns into an hour and then I run out of time to get stuff done. Something easier for me to control is the amount of TV I watch. And I watch bad TV. Like Teen Mom. This year I'm cutting that out on my DVRwatch a show when it is airing. Even if I plan to watch it that night, I will start 30 minutes later and fast forward through the commercials.

9. Invest more time in my marriage.
I have no doubt that Christopher and I still love each other like crazy. But we both tend to zone out in our own spaces when there is free time. We need to spend more time together doing things, not watching TV or sitting next to each other on our separate laptops.

Eh, I wanted to have 10-12 specific goals, but this is what I've got for now. I think it is plenty to get me started this year, don't you?

chasing the wagon

2012-01-02T06:23:00.000-06:00

Sorry that I've been MIA with 'move it monday' the last couple of weeks. As I'm sure it was for the rest of you, life was busy, I didn't feel as though I had anything motivational or significant to say health and fitness wise, and I decided to just take a break.

In the last couple of months I'd say I had started falling off that healthy wagon I have been riding. In the last couple of weeks I feel like I'm chasing the damn thing. Sweets everywhere I look. Food in general everywhere I look. A million excuses as to why I really don't feel like working out. But it's a new day and a new year so I can only choose to try and be better right?

Looking back at my December goals, I'd say that I did alright. Not fantastic, but alright.

1. Complete a 30 minute (or more) workout 5+ times a week.
I'm pretty sure there was a week or two that I only managed 4 workouts. But a couple of the days that I missed we went shopping for a couple hours which equals walking. I just didn't count it as a workout. Eh, I'll take it.

2. Run/walk 15+ miles a week.
The mileage seemed to be the easiest for me to accomplish (not surprising, seeing as I've deemed running my favorite form of exercise). I might be a little off, but it looks like throughout the month I covered 74.5 miles running and walking. Definitely an average of 15 miles per week.

3. Complete one solid strength workout per week.
Fail. I know I did a couple, but man, I cannot convince myself to do weights for anything anymore. It is terrible! Something I need to fix in 2012.

4. Only gain 0-2 pounds
Errr I was semi successful at this? Not really. I'm embarrassed to say that when I weighed myself the day after we got back from Christmas (so Tuesday) the scale told me I was up 5 pounds. EEEK! But by Friday I was only up a pound. We've been at my parents all weekend, so I'm not sure how I finished out the month, but I guess I'll take it. It could have been a lot worse!

There is no denying it, I over indulged throughout the holidays. I wanted to give myself a little leeway, but I've definitely been going a little overboard. No use dwelling on it though. It is time to set some goals for this new year. These aren't set in stone just yet (nor would they ever be I guess!), but here is what I'm planning on right now for 2012.

2012 Fitness Goals
1. Run/walk 500+ miles.
That really is only an average of just under 10 miles per week. If I train for another half marathon or two, I really don't see that as being a problem. Quite honestly I should probably set the bar a little higher, but I'm also trying to be realistic. You never know what life is going to throw at you.

2. Participate in 6+ races, including at least one half marathon.
Races, whether you are going in trying to PR or just going to have a good time, are really just fun. I love the atmosphere, and I love the motivation to push myself a little bit harder. I already have a list of five that I would possibly like to do this spring, so it is just a matter of making myself sign up and actually do them! Maybe I can manage a 5k in under 27 minutes, and a half in under 2 hours. I'd be flying high with that for sure.

3. Include strength training AT LEAST once a week.
Really that is a semi pathetic goal. I should be shooting for a minimum of twice a week. Strength training is very important to maintaining what I worked so hard for. I can already tell that I have lost a lot of muscle tone since September.

4. Try to incorporate yoga or stretching.
I'm not taking the best care of my body. I ask it to do a lot as far as the running goes, but then never properly stretch. I know I'm going to pay a price for it sooner or later, so I really want to make myself do yoga once a week too. That is probably going to be the hardest fitness goal for me to achieve.

Something else I'd like to do in 2012? A freaking pull-up. Which means I am really going to have to work on the arm strength. I don't think I'll add it as an official goal, because it is something I have yet to achieve and I know would be very difficult for me. But it would be pretty awesome.

And right now I really need to work on getting my eating back in check. Too many sweets have creeped back into my days. No good, no good at all. I plan to track calories for the next two months and see if that can help refocus my relationship with food.

Really, this year, I'm most excited for more running. I can't believe I'm writing that. I most certainly would have never thought I could enjoy running, but I love it. I am constantly competing with myself, trying to do better. It can be draining on the brain at times, but a good run just feels SO good.

How did you do with your December goals? What are your fitness goals for 2012? Link up below!

i'm proud of 2011

2012-01-01T15:39:00.000-06:00

Don't get me wrong, 2011 definitely had it's rough patches, there is no doubt about it. Christopher starting residency was very hard on my dependent self. But overall? I'd say I did pretty good this past year. More on that soon (hopefully), but for now I wanted to recap my favorite posts from 2011.

January

I successfully crafted something I was super proud of. I love my pink ruffle wreath! And OMG I about died looking at the photos in this post.

February

Again, this post, simply because those are some of my favorite photos of Ryann. Also, it was the end of February that I decided it was time to get my butt in gear and off the couch. Telling the interwebs about it was probably one of the most difficult, most rewarding and most motivational things I've ever done.

March

Ryann turned one. It made me all mushy emotional. We had a pretty sweet owl party. Bam. (And technically the birthday party post was from April, but the party was in March. I can do that, I decided.)

April

Ryann started walking and I celebrated my 25th birthday (oops, that post is from May, oh well). And looking back at how Ryann used to talk? Love it.

May

Definitely a great month. I ran a 5k, and ran the entire distance the first time ever. And Christopher graduated from medical school. Whoot!

June

We traveled to my parents vacation home in Georgia for the first time. Ryann loved the beach!! My three part recap is here, here and here. Also, I finally felt like I was seeing progress with my weight loss. I braved a bikini on the beach and shared my before photo.

July

So incredibly proud of the 10k I ran in July. That race made me fall in love with running, or really, become addicted to it, and proved that I was stronger than I believed. Also I made some yummy chocolate chip zucchini banana bread. I need to make some of that again...

August

We celebrated Christopher's 26th birthday, not in crazy way or anything, but celebrated nonetheless. Also? I hit my weight loss goal. Bam. Ryann started MDO, it made me emotional. Oh also? I tried to make a fool out of myself by writing a really long post about my hair. But to tell you the truth it was kind of fun.

September

I finally took some time to sit down and put all my favorite baby gear items in one place. I'm sure I already have more things to add or change on that list, but I'm happy I have it all recorded and I hope it has been mildly helpful to someone out there! Also, I officially decided that I am runner. I will proudly list that as one of my favorite hobbies. Oh, and we took Ryann to the Omaha Zoo, and that special little 'o' face she wore in amazement all day was awesome.

October

Lets see, we took another great trip to Gerogia. I puked emotional word vomit into this post, and am was so incredibly grateful for all the responses I received. You all are amazing. And, um, I ran a half marathon. Yep 13.1 miles. I freaking did it. Completing that half marathon definitely ranks up there with getting married and having a baby. I am so proud to say I did it.

November

Ryann really started to fall in love with painting. I love that she enjoys artsy/craftsy things :). I also love this Thanksgiving post, mostly because it was the first time I got Ryann's hair into piggies.

December

Mirror shots with my baby girl? They are some of my favorites. I finally got my craft on in a glittery way. Christopher's tall friends may not appreciate it, but it definitely makes me happy! And even though Ryann was a little under the weather, I really enjoyed Christmas this year, photo dumps here and here.

twenty-one months

2011-12-30T14:28:00.000-06:00

There are less than three months until I am the mother of a two-year-old. To tell you the truth, it doesn't really surprise me. This little girl is definitely not a baby anymore.

This photo session was definitely not as easy as last month's. She wanted nothing to do with my chalkboard. I still managed to get some shots that I love, but honestly all of the bribing in the world would not get her to actually stand still for more than a second. It was the first time we'd gotten to play outside on a semi nice day (it was like 54!) in quite some time. Therefore it was as if I had released a caged animal! Ha ha.

Ryann's next doctors appointment isn't until April 4th, so I won't know any 'stats' until then, but I'm pretty sure she is just getting taller and taller. She hasn't really thinned out all that much but some of her 24 month pants are starting to look like high waters. Every time she attempts to stand on the scale it reads somewhere around 25.5 pounds, but she isn't standing on it correctly, so I don't give it that much credit. And no, I'm not making her weigh herself. Of course I don't get to pee alone, and when I'm in there she generally drags out the scale and starts pushing buttons and climbs on it.

Her closet is still full of clothing ranging in 18 months - 2T. I've stopped buying 24 month clothing unless I know it is something we need right now. Shoes are also still 5.5-6 range. I bought a pair of size 7 boots from Old Navy for her, and they look like they would work right now, but I think they are just a tad big. The See Kai Run shoes I ordered from Zulilly are a size 6 and she has plenty of room in them.

Potty training is going pretty much the same as last month. Ryann will usually go if I ask her, unless of course she is playing with something way too exciting. She also asks to go on occasion, but it is pretty seldom. And a lot of times when she does ask she is trying to get out of something she doesn't want to do, such as eating a lunch or dinner that isn't on her 'approved' list. "Ryann, are you going to take a bite of that carrot?" "I need to use the potty seat! I need to use the potty seat!" Uh huh, sure :o). In her defense she does always go when she sits on it, but I'm sure it wasn't quite that urgent. Actually while we were in Omaha and Ryann was up in the middle of the night, she was trying to find any excuse to get out of her crib. At one point she stood up and said "I need to put poopies in the potty seat! I need to use the potty seat!" Manipulative much?

Listening to the things that come out of Ryann's mouth is still lots of fun. I love that she can tell me what happens when I'm not around. Sometimes she is being a tattle tell, "Gigi picked up a bag. Miss Julie tell her no thank you! Gigi was being naughty." Obviously I don't really know what happened, but it was funny to hear her recount part of her day. Or yesterday when we got home from the gym she said, "Did you watch Thomas at the gym? (she still phrases everything as a question a lot)" "No, I didn't. Did you?" "Yeah. Thomas the train wiggled his eyes. Thomas is a funny show." Too cute. On a slightly different note, yesterday after Ryann went down the slide she said, "Whee! That was fun Mommy!" Not sure why but that really made me smile.

Unfortunately one of Ryann's favorite words right now, is of course "No." She even turned it into a fun little jingle, I'll have to try and record it. It is actually a universal tune that she'll swap out with different words, "No. No. No no no!" or "Dad. Dad. Dad dad dad!" It would annoy me more if it wasn't so funny to hear her sing it. And she has developed this other odd little voice she uses when she says no. It is rather whiny, high pitched and drawn out. But it is near impossible not to laugh when she looks you straight in the face and says, "Nooooooooo". Another thing I need to just get on video. Really, you can be incredibly frustrated, ask her a simple question, that odd little no comes out, and it takes everything you've got not to snort with laughter.

We are getting more and more unprompted 'I love yous' everyday. Just last night Ryann came sprinting into the kitchen, wrapped her arms around my legs and said "I love you, Mommy". I melted into a puddle right there from all the sweetness. She also loves on her toys, tells them she loves them, hugs them, kisses them. And she also makes them kiss each other which is kind of funny. She'll grab a couple of animals from her Little People sets, push their faces together and make a kissing sound. Cracks me up. I'll ask her, "Oh, did the zebra and lion just kiss?" "Yep." Very matter of fact :o).

But you know what gets the most hugs and I love yous? Why her stuffed ginger of course. My mom put a stuffed gingerbread doll in Ryann's stocking and I think we might need to find a couple more. She isn't consistent but Ryann frequently asks to sleep with her ginger. I was doing my best to keep it at one night time buddy, but she freaking loves that thing. Between the doll and the two pairs of ginger pajamas she has now, we talk about gingers all the time. And I truly hope I'm not offending any of the red heads out there. It really is hysterical to watch Ryann hug her doll and say "I love you ginger!"

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but Ryann has assigned us all colors. Well not all of us, but while playing with the sorting bears she decided certain colors are for certain people. The purple bucket is hers, the yellow is mine, Christopher gets blue, red is for our friend Kyle, and green is for our friend Chris. But now not only are the yellow bears mine, pretty much anything yellow is mine. She brings me yellow blocks and pieces of her toys. Yesterday Ryann threw all of the yellow plastic balls out of her ball pit and said "I got your balls out for you Mommy!" Recently she had some fruit loops in her snack cup, and whenever she would pull out a yellow one she would hand it to me and say, "Here mommy. This ones yours. Eat it." It cracks me up.

these were the 'stop taking so many pictures of me' faces

Ryann is very into spinning this month. Or playing ring around the rosie. She'll just start spinning in circles in random places. We've asked her to only spin in the family room (it's the only carpeted area in our house) and preferably only when mommy and daddy are around (because she goes a little crazy and bashes into things). We can be in another room doing something completely different and she'll stand up, "Go in the family room? Spin? Spin again, please?" Who knew spinning in circles was so awesome.

Coloring and coloring books also score high on the fun meter. For a little while there she really wasn't interested in coloring at all anymore, but in the last couple of weeks we have spent hours laying on the floor with her crayons and coloring books. When she is really concentrating she can actually do a pretty good job of staying in the lines. It isn't perfect, but it is very apparent that she knows she is supposed to color section by section. And if you suggest she color a certain part a certain color? That simply thrills her. For example, "Ryann I'm going to color Elmo's nose orange, maybe you should color Grover blue?" "Oh yeah! Ok! Find the blue! Color Grover!" Like it was the best idea in the world, and then she goes to town.

can't you just hear the whine? obviously i'm a mean mom who makes her child do horrible things.

Oh, I almost forgot. Nodding her head for yes? That has also become pretty awesome. If you ask her a question she'll do an exaggerated yes nod with a little "Mmm-hmm" thrown in there. Or a "yep". I'm partial to the yep I think.

Other random things Ryann is enjoying lately: Corduroy, letters (definitely solidifies my choice for an alphabet party), m&m's, splashing in the bathtub, looking at Christmas lights, meatballs (I think she would choose meatballs for every meal every day if she could), Peek-a-Zoo on the iPad and Kung Fu Panda 2. Oh Kung Fu Panda 2. I'm pretty sure I've already seen that movie somewhere in the neighborhood of five times. But she loves it (mostly the baby panda scenes). So I guess I'll tolerate it.

Oh Miss Ryann. You have loads of personality. I love you.

this and that

2011-12-29T07:06:00.000-06:00

:: I uploaded pictures and put up blog posts about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (ok photo dump, whatever). I did four loads of laundry. I cleaned up the dirty dishes in my kitchen and wiped down the counters. That is progress right? I also finished Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah in two days. There is a reason I can't pick up novels unless we are on vacation, I simply can't put them down. I have to know what happens. Which means when I could be being somewhat productive my nose is stuck in a book. Oh well, it makes me happy so it is a good thing, right?

:: My holiday cards are still sitting on my desk. Apparently no amount of ink can clean my print heads or bring my epson back to life, so I've opted to just get a new printer. Now the question is, which one? Anyone out there have a recommendation for a good ink jet printer? I want to be able to print photos, and would love the option of printing up to 13x19, although that isn't 100% necessary.

:: My little princess pie is 21 months old today. Sigh. It will never slow down, will it?

:: I want to put together a couple of posts relating to blog design and photography. Those are both topics I've been asked about on more than one occasion, so I'm going to try and bit the bullet and put down all my completely non professional probably not the best way to go tips :o). I want to make sure I answer all of your questions so if you have any related to those topics please ask in the comments section!

:: I'm going to sit down and put together my schedule for 'a day in the life' tonight. If you are interested in participating please check out this post!

:: Colors are officially (sorta) decided for the birthday party. Hooray! Now on to the good stuff. Any suggestions for your favorite little place to get fun party supplies (balloons, plates, cupcake liners, etc)? Also, has anyone seen alphabet sprinkles anywhere? Especially in colors other than primary ones? And if you've ever ordered or bought large amounts of crepe paper or tissue paper, where from?

Happy Thursday!

christmas day 2011

2011-12-28T21:24:00.000-06:00

The one thing that kind of bites about not spending Christmas at home, is the fact that we spend Christmas morning in a hotel. It isn't the end of the world of course, and there are still presents and stockings and we have a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant... but it is a hotel. It just doesn't wake you up with a holly jolly feeling you know?

That aside, Christmas day was lots of fun of course. More presents, more family, more food... need I say more?

Oh, in a total mommy fail moment, I forgot to bring Ryann a stocking. My mom has the rest of our families, but Ryann never got one of the 'family' stockings, so my mom asked me to bring one from home. I uh, didn't. Oops. So she used my brothers and he got a shopping bag. Oh well, I suppose at almost 30 you don't care if you don't have a stocking. Quite frankly I bet at just under 2 you don't care either, but whatever :o).

Check out that concentration! She sat and colored for such a long time, completely ignoring everything around her. The only way to get her attention was to take the crayons or the paper. And that absolutely did not go over well.

Something else to mention about Christmas morning... Ryann had opened a couple of gifts, and of course after each asked us to open whatever it was she had unwrapped. She got to a gift Chris and I brought, some crayons, a couple of coloring books, and a pack of stickers that Chris threw in at the last second. We thought it would be an easy thing to keep her entertained with in the hotel. As soon as she opened the stickers she had ZERO interest in any of her other presents. She didn't care that she still had like five more packages to open. Just goes to show that kids don't need much. Just something they love!

christmas eve 2011

2011-12-28T06:47:00.000-06:00

For as long as I can remember we have always spent Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. I recall one time with my mom's family, and maybe, MAYBE one time at our own house, but really we have always been in Omaha.

Every year we talk about spending Christmas at home with just my immediate family, but you know? It just doesn't seem right. Not yet anyway. Maybe when there are a few more little kiddos in the mix, but for now, I absolutely love spending the holidays with my crazy big family. I think at one point there were between 40-45 of us at my uncle's house.

Really there is no need to explain all of those. There were lots of people, lots of food, and lots of laughter. Also lots of tears, but that was mostly from over tired overloaded with sugar little people. But Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without that right?

looking for motivation

2011-12-27T06:48:00.000-06:00

Whew.

Christmas was lots of fun. Ryann slept horribly at the hotel. I'm exhausted.

I've missed two weeks in a row for 'move it monday'. I've got several other half finished/barely started posts I've been meaning to get to. And now I have a slew of holiday photos that I want to post before I never get to it.

My holiday cards still haven't been mailed out. My house is a disaster. Our fridge is empty.

I really need to do something about much of the above, and hopefully I'll get there eventually, but until then, here is our only pathetic attempt at a family picture from the weekend.

I'm kicking myself for not taking better pictures of Ryann in her Christmas Eve outfit. The cuteness killed me. Seriously, I could barely stand it. She looked like such a little princess! And the outfit/fur was most likely a bit over the top, but it was on sale. And she rocked it. :o)

Crossing my fingers for a productive nap time today!

week in iphone pics

2011-12-25T14:57:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas, and you know, happy everything. We are having a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with my dad's side of the family. For the first time in probably 3 or 4 years we are having amazing weather! Seriously, the last two or three years we've had to drive to and from Omaha in near blizzard like conditions. Sunshine and no snow was a much welcomed change.

I'm sure there will be an actual Christmas post soon, but my dad was giving me grief about not updating the blog since Thursday (I know he was kidding, whatever), so I thought I'd throw up my iphone pictures before I forgot. It seemed like a rather busy week getting everything all put together for the holiday weekend!

sunday

We were still at my parent's house, and I actually braved the cold to go for a longish run outside. I truly was surprised how much I was able to tolerate the cold. It was overcast and supposedly only felt like 24 or something, but there was no wind, and by the time I hit the 3 mile mark I was wanting to strip off some layers. I covered about 7.75 miles. I call it a success!

Ryann wasn't feeling to hot on Monday, and spent a lot of time laying down places. She cuddled up on the couch with papa for a while. A little dose of tylenol perked her up enough to bake some cookies, but by Monday evening we were considering taking her to the ER. She was barely running a temp, not even 101, but her nose started bleeding again and she was acting so weird. I knew I was most likely overreacting, so I gave her another dose of tylenol and put her to bed. Thankfully she woke up chipper at 6am Tuesday morning.

monday

Somebody got a special wintertime breakfast... a snowman pancake with chocolate chips for eyes and buttons! I was in love with Ryann's outfit that day, I'm pretty sure her Grandma 'Nita bought it last winter. Just another trip to Target, where else. We went out to lunch at Red Lobster and Ryann kept sneaking fries off Daddy's plate. She would dip them in the ketchup, take a bite, and put them back :o). Hanging out with Auntie Lorin and celebrating Papa's birthday.

tuesday & wednesday

The first photo is the only one I took on Tuesday. Whoops. Honestly? I don't even remember what we did besides drive back home. Wednesday Chris didn't have to go in until 1pm, so we took Ryann to Bass Pro to see Santa Claus. And the fish of course. I wish I could remember what she was saying to me at dinner, she was being a total goober if you couldn't tell.

thursday

As soon as I say something about baking, Ryann pipes up, "Want to lick the spatula! Want to lick the spatula!" I made some nutella puppy chow and snickers brownies. The nutella puppy chow made for a very tasty spatula! We ventured out to Nordstrom Rack that evening to see if there was anything I wanted to wear for Christmas Eve (no luck, boo), and Ryann enjoyed trying on lots and lots of bracelets. Thursday night I stayed up too late watching the Jayhawks win (hooray!) and wrapping presents (because I'm a slacker and didn't already have it done).

friday

Chris and Ryann ran out to do some errands for me while I showered and pack to leave for the weekend. Good story (not), our Christmas cards were actually delivered late Thursday so I was trying to get them mailed out on Friday. I ran out of ink while trying to clean the print heads, so Chris and Ryann went to get more. The stupid printer never would work, so I still haven't sent out my cards. Lame. A little nap during the car ride to Omaha. Ryann got a ride around the hallway in Gigi's cart. She found it pretty entertaining.

saturday

Ryann is incredibly congested and slept HORRIBLY at the hotel Friday night. Of course the only thing that would keep her sleepy self remotely happy the next morning was the iPad. That kid and technology, sheesh, my dad's iPad is passcode protected, and she has figured out how to swipe the thing, put in the password and get to the games she wants. Ridiculous. We of course had to run to a store Saturday morning to grab a hairbow for Ryann. They had an adorable mini chair and couch set that Ryann did not want to get up from. She looked pretty classy riding to the Christmas Eve party. And surprise surprise, a little more iPad before bed time. The real point of that picture is the matching jammies (more gingers!) she got for her and her doll. When I saw them in the store last week I absolutely couldn't resist. Gingers? A matching pair for the dolly? It was a must. Unfortunately Ryann was too tired last night to really care. Oh well, they made me happy :o).

Overall a pretty good week :o).

embrace the camera

2011-12-22T07:38:00.000-06:00

Ryann and I spent the past weekend, where else, at Grammy and Papa's house. Chris's schedule tends to blow, but at least for the most part I have some awesome (and incredibly helpful!) parents that take care of and spoil us like no one else can. Overall the weekend was lots of fun, minus the part where Ryann was sick, again. I feel like she is always sick on the weekends. I'm guessing it is because she goes to MDO on Thursdays and then starts feeling crummy by Saturday or Sunday. But she also goes to the gym so who knows...

Sunday morning started off with a fairly gorgeous sunrise. These are pretty much straight out of the camera. Yes, the sunrise did look that amazing!

Us girls had a good time baking and decorating sugar cookies. Ryann was a crazy woman with the sprinkles sometimes! There was colored sugar everywhere. But we were happy :o).

Monday was my Dad's birthday, and Chris's day off, so he came over to hang out and have a birthday dinner with us. We put together a gingerbread house (note to self, read instructions before starting a project :o), had a delicious dinner, and opened some Christmas presents so they didn't all have to travel with us. Overall another great day!

It was a fun filled weekend, and now I can't wait for Christmas this weekend! If only I could motivate myself to make a dent in my to-do list...

would you like to share? (+ family photos)

2011-12-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

Hi. I forgot to send a reminder e-mail again. So you get me :o). That isn't so bad right?

January 4th is the last Wednesday I have scheduled for 'a day in the life' posts. If you would like to be featured, please leave your first name, e-mail address and blog address in the comments section of this post. I'm trying not to repeat anyone who has already participated (because it is a fun way to introduce people to new blogs), but if you really really REALLY want to write another post, go ahead and leave your name. I'll think about it :o).

I'll do my best to have a schedule put together and e-mailed out by the end next week!

Since nobody loves a post without pictures, I thought I'd include some from our family session about a month ago. These photos were taken by the talented and oh so sweet Adrienne Maples*.

don't you just love her face in that one? pretty sure she had no idea what was going on.

Ryann was totally just eating marshmallows in that last shot. None of these are the one I selected for our holiday card. I can't call it a Christmas card anymore since, well, yet again they won't make it out before Christmas. I did order them last week, but unfortunately when I checked the tracking they won't be delivered until the 23rd. Boo. On a positive note, I apparently didn't order any holiday cards until December 27th last year according to my shutterfly account, so I am getting better!

I'll be on top of my game next year. I swear!

*The disc I received contained web ready files that were unedited. All compositions are Adrienne's, but any retouching (i.e. removing the giant scratch off Ryann's forehead) was done by me. Therefore if the minimal editing sucks, don't blame Adrienne or assume it is an accurate example of her work :o).

glitter makes me merry

2011-12-20T07:56:00.000-06:00

I've always had a thing for sparkles, rhinestones and glitter make me happy. The amount that I need varies day by day, but like I said, I'm currently in the middle of a glitter obsession. When pinterest showed me this and this and this, I knew I just had to jump on that train.

Now I'm terrible at executing crafts. My glitter letters probably won't last all that long, because who knows if I really did it right. And I should have spray painted the letters before I glittered them. Then you wouldn't see any of the wood spots that I missed. But whatever. The banner makes me happy and I actually crafted. That is a success right?

For this project you will need...

4 inch wooden letters (.99 for a pack of two at Hobby Lobby*)
modge podge (school glue could probably work)
glitter
a paint brush of some sort (to spread on your modge podge)
a bowl to put some modge podge in (because you will definitely get glitter in that stuff)
wax paper or some sort of surface to work on (to collect the extra glitter)
clear acrylic spray sealer
decorative cording
hot glue gun

Really this project is very easy. The short version? Put glue (modge podge) on letters, dump on some glitter, spray them with sealer, glue the to cording, hang and enjoy.

I would definitely suggest pouring a little modge podge in some sort of bowl. I didn't, and glitter got on my brush, therefore glitter inevitably got in my modge podge. I'm hoping that isn't a problem for future craft projects! Also, the paint brush I used was different than the one pictured above... when I went to start dumb me realized that brush wouldn't fit in the opening of the bottle. Only reason I switched :o).

The semi longer step by step instructions:

I didn't do this, but I would suggest spray painting the letters in whatever color glitter you plan to cover the letters in. My letters look fine, but there are some spots where the glitter didn't exactly cover, and the spray paint would have helped.
Working one letter at a time, cover the front and sides in modge podge.
With the letter on wax paper or a paper plate, cover all the modge podge with glitter. Let sit for a minute or so to set up.
Tap off excess glitter. Modge podge and re-glitter any spots that are sparse.
Repeat steps 2-4 with the rest of your letters. Let them set up for a little while, so the modge podge is dry.
In a well ventilated area, cover the letters with clear acrylic sealer. This will help hold the glitter on (although while gluing my letters to the cording I still got glitter everywhere, who knows. It seems like it should help.).
You're supposed to let the sealer dry for 24 hours, I didn't (possibly the reason I had issues, whoops). Once the sealer is dry, attach the letters to your cording with hot glue.
Hang banner in your desired location and enjoy!

My banner is in kind of a tough spot to get a good overall picture, but it really makes me happy to have those glitter letters greeting me every time I make a trip into the family room.

This was a fun little project that allowed me to destress during nap time on a semi crappy day. And it would be super easy to make for lots of different occasions. I may or may not make one for Ryann's birthday party! Really, I have no idea what I'm going to do for that party. Can someone please come up with a fun color scheme for me? That would help! Ha ha.

week in iphone pics

2011-12-18T16:47:00.000-06:00

Seriously, this week I felt like I didn't stop from Tuesday until Saturday. It was full of playdates and crafts and friends coming over and errands and... well, you get the idea. It was a good busy week, but exhausting!

sunday

This block tower is very impressive for a couple of reasons, 1) It was pretty dang tall. Taller than Ryann, so like 3 feet ish? 2) It lasted long enough for me to take a picture to send to Chris. That is incredibly impressive with baby Godzilla running around. Towers don't usually stand a chance in our house. After the gym we had a little playdate with JT. When Chris asked Ryann what we did that day, she said we played at JT's house, and JT was naked :o). Sheesh Ryann, not true! He was just shirtless. Crazy girl during lunch. A quick trip to Target to pick up a humidifier. And somebody got some pretty red toenails for Christmas time.

monday

I believe someone was regretting the early morning wake-up during our trip to Hobby Lobby. Nap time was glitter time! That evening Ryann requested a hair bow. I was happy to oblige. She read the bible for the bazillionth time. We started some Christmas cards. And Ryann got her babies all tucked in and ready for me. She said they needed to sleep with the train and the blocks. Looks snuggly right?

tuesday

The first two photos would be extra adorable, seeing as she wanted to wear a skirt (rarely happens), except it was 6:30 in the morning. And we'd already been up for an hour... Grammy was in town so we hit up our favorite lunch spot (CPK) for some salads. That afternoon lovely and hilarious Michelle brought baby Effy over to play. Well, or nap, whatever. Ryann helped rock her to sleep and sang her 'Rock-a-bye Effy...' That kind of cuteness can kill. Tuesday night we threw on the gingers before heading out to look at Christmas lights. It was awesome, Ryann 'oooed' and 'ahhhed' the whole time. And I think the blow up stuff is incredibly tacky, but man, they definitely thrilled Ry to no end.

wednesday

Another morning with Grammy around, so we did some shopping. Ryann wasn't exactly feeling retail therapy that day, and frequently threw her shoes and socks from the stroller. We did pick up an adorable fur shrug for her to wear on Christmas Eve. She may not be so sure about it but I can't wait to have her all decked out. Ryann took an extra long nap (she slept until 5:15... like 3.5 hours!), so I got to crafting some teacher gifts. We made some treats to go with it, and I finished up the Christmas cards. That was a way past my bedtime kind of night!

thursday

My mom was still in town, so while Ryann was at MDO we did some shopping on the Plaza. Say hello to my Christmas present (the phone, not the water :o). Thanks mom, I'm in love! We also had to stop in Halls for some Andre's chocolates. If you ever come across them, do yourself a favor and get a raspberry truffle. Mmmmm. And just some silly post bath photos.

friday

Friday we had a fun little playdate at our house. I'm sure Jenn is going to kill me for that picture, but that is the only one I took. We made some salt dough ornaments and then the kids dumped plastic balls all over the family room. Ryann sent daddy a sad face to tell him she got an owie at the gym, but no worries. She was still super crazy. And it was absolutely wonderful to see my friend Jess. Probably wasn't the best experience she could have had at my house, but Ryann loved playing with her. And I loved seeing her!

saturday

Road trip to grammy's house! And please let me introduce you to creepy Santa Claus. I freaking loved that thing when I was little, I have no idea why. But apparently it is a kid thing because Ryann loves it too. She dragged him all over the house. We made a little art project after nap, Ryann loves to paint. More creepy Santa playtime, she was feeding him cookies :o). Lastly helping Papa play the piano. He plays and she changes the instrument every two seconds.

It was a busy on the go kind of week, but we had lots of fun. Can't wait for the coming week, hello Christmas!!

Linking up with our week by iphone and instaFriday.

oh hello there.

2011-12-17T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well, apparently I took a little break. I knew it would happen this month. There is just too much going on to spend a large chunk of time editing photos and writing! I do have a bit of time right now, so I thought I'd sit down and recap some funny things Ryann has said this week.

:: On Monday we had to make a quick trip to Hobby Lobby. I was in the mood to craft, but short a small wooden 'B'. I know, what am a talking about... I'll get to that in the next couple of days. Anyway, since we only needed one thing, I decided to browse for a bit of course. Ryann was talking her own ear off and randomly singing songs. All of the sudden she started shouting at the top of her lungs, "J - E - S - U - S! J - E - S - U - S!" to the tune of Bingo. I about died laughing. I figured if there was anywhere to be shouting Jesus at the top of your lungs, Hobby Lobby was the place. I asked at school, they sang it last week :o).

:: Ryann has really started to enjoy tucking in her baby dolls. She gets them tons of blankets and buddies to sleep with. One evening she had them all snuggled in and ready for bed, and said to them, "Good night. Sleep tight. Sweet dreams! ... And don't climb out and don't touch the light switch. Good night!" She has been paying attention when I tuck her in!

:: Speaking of tucking in her babies, it was maybe the following evening and she was getting them all ready for 'bed' again. She brought over one doll, and then grabbed another (Baby Sarah I think :o). She said she needed to give the baby a good night kiss, I told her to go for it. She gave the doll and giant smooch and a big "I love you!" After laying baby Sarah down next to the others and covering them up, we asked her if they needed a lullaby to go to sleep. Ryann started singing 'you are my sunshine' and slowly went down the row patting each babies face and making sure they were tucked in just right. My heart was exploding from all the cuteness, Chris could barely stand it either. Obviously you had to be there, but it was quite possibly the cutest thing she has ever done. It was so sweet!

:: Even though she has been extra sweet lately, I swear Ryann also sounds like a thirteen year old. She was in her booster seat having breakfast or snack or something, and I decided to tickle her toes. Without even glancing up at me she sternly said "Leave the toes alone, MOM." With a big emphasis on the mom. Are you kidding me? First of all, when did I become Mom? I am mommy or mama thank you very much. And the sass! My goodness!

:: The other day when I picked Ryann up from the childcare center one of the girls stopped me. She told me that Ryann had been talking to a little boy about her age. Apparently Ryann said to him "I can't understand what you're saying. Sorry," and walked off. :o)

:: A not so funny Ryann thing this week? It has been bloody nose central around our house. Twice earlier this week she woke up from nap with a bloody nose, I'm assuming thanks to the dry air. We put a humidifier in her room and everything was fine and dandy again. However yesterday when I picked Ryann up at the gym, the guy at the desk said, "Oh, um, I was just about to page you. She's in the boys bathroom with (some name I can't remember), she has a bloody nose." Apparently she had taken a face first dive off some mat/cushion thing. Kids fall, it happens, but seriously, with the bloody noses! Sheesh.

But oh it gets better. My sorority sister, Jess, was in town this weekend, and was able to swing by for a little bit yesterday (hooray!). Ryann was still napping when she got there, but woke up after a bit. On the monitor I could tell she was trying to rub stuff off her face, and knew her nose had started bleeding again. But I wasn't expecting what I saw when I opened the door. There was blood everywhere. All over her, her clothes, the sheets, the bumpers... everywhere. Poor Jess hadn't seen Ryann since she was born, and ended up having to help me strip her down and get her in the bath while her nose continued to drip blood like a bad leaky faucet. Thankfully it did stop, but the poor girl. Ryann was so out of it because she woke up before she was ready, and we were all in her face and throwing her in the bath. I felt so bad.

She is also sporting her first shiner. Yesterday (when I took a couple of pictures) it was just red, but today it is looking a bit more purple. Makes her look tough, right?

I've got a couple of crafty projects to share sometime next week, but other than that, I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday.

a day in the life - meg

2011-12-14T06:30:00.002-06:00

Keeping it short and sweet this morning... enjoy a day in the life of Meg!

***

Hi! I'm Meg, and I blog over at The Smyser Family. My husband, Josh, and I have been together since high school and you can read a lot more about us here if you'd like. Our daughter Madison was born in August of 2010.

We are very fortunate to own our own business (started by Josh's parents) so I am able to work from home and stay home with Madison. :)

I love organization, lists, and schedules...so we typically stick to a pretty tight schedule most days, but we still have fun! I'm documenting this last Monday...which was pretty hectic and off our normal schedule...but that's life!

7:36am I wake up, run to the kitchen to pour her milk (she won't drink ice cold milk), and jump in the shower.

7:55am Madison is starting to wake up. She is rolling around and talking to her beloved Piggy in her crib. Good Morning!

8:04am M gets a diaper change, all lotioned up, and we get her dressed for the day.

8:18am M gets to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while she drinks her milk.

8:32am M says, "Ba," meaning she wants a banana, so breakfast for M consists of a banana and some oatmeal.

8:53am She's done so I put away some dishes away and tidy the kitchen while M plays.

9:02am I eat a bowl of cereal while M plays and steals bites of my cereal.

9:13 Pack up M's stuff, change her diaper and we're off to run errands. We stop at the post office to get our mail (we live in a tiny town), and then to Farm and Fleet quick, and then to Super Target. (No cute pics of her at Target because we were in a rush...and...well, you'll see why.)

10:20am We are ready to head to the check out lane at Target when I realize one of M's Uggs is missing!!! Whaaaat?!? We retrace our steps...meaning I run through Super Target like a mad woman with my head down looking for her silly Ugg. No luck, so we get checked out, and run to Guest Services to report the missing Ugg and leave my cell number.

10:47am Arrive at my Chiro appointment. 2 minutes late. My MIL was able to meet me there to watch M during my appointment. After my appointment, we chat for a bit while M plays with her G'ma in the waiting room.

11:30am Target calls...the Ugg was found! Yay! Back to Target quick. We live about 25 minutes from Target (and most civilization), and as we're driving home M falls asleep...I take the long way home to let her sleep a bit longer. She still likes 2 naps a day.

(Of course she took of her shoes and socks.)

12:30pm We arrive home and I immediately change her diaper. Then, it's time for lunch for M (Milk, Gerber crunchies, mashed sweet potatoes, cottage cheese and berries). My husband is in the house since my new dishwasher (yay!) was delivered and he has started the installation process.

1pm Play time and helping Daddy with dishwasher. I scarf down a sandwich quick.

2pm My power is out and the water is off (for installation safety) when my husband realizes he needs some connector part and heads to the nearest hardware store in the little town next to us. He leaves.

2:15pm I get a text from Josh because the hardware store doesn't have the part so he has to head into town. :( Right at this time I notice someone is a bit smelly...so time for another diaper change.

3:12pm Dad home...with a surprise for M! (Josh always buys her stuff I would have said no too...I don't let her have the candy though - choking hazard I think). She also get's a snack of a fruit pouch and some water.

3:46pm The installation is complete! Yay! Time for a diaper change for M and she goes in her crib for a nap! I watch her roll around for a bit, and then settle in.

4pm I clean up our kitchen, then bag treats for tonight. Thanks to Pinterest for the ideas! Then, I ~~start working on this post~~ check FB, Pinterest, read some blogs....

4:42pm I check the monitor and she's still sleeping, so then I start working on this post.

5:25pm I can't believe she's still sleeping! I assume she'll wake up soon, so I start getting together her stuff for dinner tonight. Tonight we have our Annual Company Dinner with our employees and their families (we only have 3 employees) at Old Chicago. It's not until 7pm, which is late for our family...but it's the only time that worked for everyone.

5:30pm M wakes up. I feed her a snack to hold her until dinner. Then, we play and read books together.

6:15pm We head out to dinner. M does GREAT...which is a relief. She has good days and bad days at restaurants, and I was worried since we'd be out past her bedtime. It probably helped that there was another 1 year old and a 5 year old...and we were in part of the restaurant where she should safely get out of her high chair and play with the other kiddos a bit, too. (I snapped this pic of Josh holding M and Ellie. M isn't sure what to think about her Daddy holding another little girl! Sadly, my cell died after this picture.)

9:20pm Bedtime routine (an hour later than normal!!!) No bath tonight since it's late...just lotion, books, jammies, and kisses.

9:35pm I hop on my laptop to finally order our holiday cards. Josh goes to bed a bit early because he has a super busy Tuesday ahead of him.

10:20pm I head to bed...exhausted...as usual.

1. What is the most surprising thing about being a Mom? Umm. EVERYTHING. For me though...I think just how much you can love another human being. I didn't consider myself very motherly before having M...but that has most certainly changed! Also...that you can function on less sleep than you think...it isn't always pretty...but you can do it!

2. What advice would you give new or soon-to-be Moms? Just do what you think is best for you and your baby. You will get a lot of advice...but take what you want from it. Also, don't forget to take time for you and your significant other.

3. What are your top 3 baby products? The Boppy Pillow - I breastfed M for 15 months, our Video Monitor - especially as she got a bit older, too, it's awesome to be able to check in on her and SEE what she's up to...it helped (me) when we were sleep training her, and a good stroller - it's great to get fresh air and exercise with your little one.

Thanks, Ashley, for letting me a part of this series and your fantastic blog!

***

Thank you, Meg, for sharing your day with us!

i was wrong...

2011-12-12T06:39:00.000-06:00

... people are paying attention to me at the gym.

You see, I am easily embarrassed. Very easily (surprising I know, since I have posted so many ridiculous pictures of myself lately, but it is true). I'm not very brave at the gym because I'm worried I won't be doing something right and someone will see me, maybe laugh at me, or make fun of me in their head. But I always tell myself everyone is just there to workout. No judgement. Get over it and just do something.

Now I know that might now always be 100% true, but I keep saying it in my head so that maybe I'll go out on a limb and actually do some weighted squats without nervously checking over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching. But this past week I was totally proved wrong.

For the most part I tend to just run on the treadmill. One reason I love running? You don't really have to think about it. I mean you do, but I don't have to necessarily plan a 30 minute workout. I show up, hop on the treadmill, and do what feels good. I try and make myself do some ab work and weights at least three times a week. Usually it only consists of push-ups and a variety of crunches. Well last Monday I finished up my cardio and headed over to a mat to do some just that. For the first time in a while I decided to actually do real push-ups instead of girly ones...

"Glad to see you finally bucked up and did some real push-ups today. I was sick of seeing you wuss out with those girly ones."

I'm pretty sure I looked up with a completely dumbfounded look on my face as my cheeks started to flush. It was a personal trainer. He is frequently in that area with his clients. I honestly didn't know what to say because I was so embarrassed by the fact that someone was paying attention to me. I'm pretty sure I mustered up an 'oh... yeah...' before getting back to my set. He then said, "I definitely contemplated putting weights on your back the other day, you can do real push-ups. Quit being a wimp."

Cue awkward laugh from myself, "oh sure, ok." He said all of this in a playful, not mean at all way, just for the record. I'm sure he really was just trying to encourage me to try harder, as I know I should. But sheesh! I guess I should be flattered that he thinks I am strong enough to do real push-ups, right? I suppose I need to write up a decent strength workout now...

More running related tidbits... I was pretty proud of this run yesterday:

I haven't increased my speed quite as quickly as I want to, because my right knee and hip are frequently begging for mercy. But 6.5 miles at an 8:56 pace? That is a heck of a lot better than where I was a few months ago. Ryann, my mom and I scheduled a trip to Georgia in January, and even though I'm sure it will still be a bit chilly, I'm thinking I'll be able to get in some outdoor runs. I can't wait to test my legs outside, I think I have been on the treadmill for almost a month straight!! Say it with me, BORING!

Oh, and so far so good on all of my December goals. I was a wee bit worried weight wise, seeing as I have eaten an embarrassing amount of cookies this week, but the scale was nice to me. I think I put in 18.8 miles on the treadmill, but honestly I forgot to write down/take pictures of my workouts, and I can't completely remember what I did. I'm pretty sure it was at least 15.

Have anything to share health and fitness wise? Link up below!

week in iphone pics

2011-12-11T14:04:00.000-06:00

Our weeks are getting busier and busier! Hopefully that doesn't mean life will suddenly turn lame after January 1st...

sunday

Last Sunday my bestie took me to some great antique shops and thrift stores. There were a couple of mirrors I almost bought to turn into a chalkboard, but I just couldn't make a decision. I'm a terrible thrifter. That evening we did some grocery shopping at Whole Foods and finished up our Christmas tree decorating!

monday

Oh Monday. The first day she discovered the light switch. We had a little playdate with Sarah and the boys at Monkey Bizness. Ryann is obsessed with those giant blocks. After our playdate I dragged Ryann to Hobby Lobby with me. She wanted to send daddy a tongue picture during lunch. When Chris is gone I absolutely dread bathtime. I have no idea why but I seriously HATE giving Ryann a bath. Luckily she is pretty cute (and loves brushing her teeth). She also makes awesome faces when we take post bath pictures together...

tuesday

Tuesday morning we woke up to the tiniest layer of snow. Ryann was so excited, obviously. Grammy came to visit and we ventured to the mall (where else?). With one bat of the eyelashes Ryann convinced grammy to take her on the carosuel, and nearly got her to buy a bitty baby at American Girl (really it may have been me that put my foot down on that one :o). That evening we used our matching ginger spatulas to make some cookies!

wednesday

After Tuesday's attempted crib escape Ryann's room got some new pillow flooring. Between getting dinner ready for the crock pot and making more cookies I turned our kitchen into a disaster area. By the way, Ryann was also a huge fan of the dough. After nap we set out for a little advent calendar activity. On the schedule for that day? Hot chocolate from Starbucks. We had an extra special trip by going to the Starbucks in Target. Hot chocolate and Target, what could be better right? I'm not sure if it the drink was coming through the straw too fast, or if was that she hadn't really had a warm drink before, but Ryann did not want the hot chocolate at all after the first sip. The lemon pound cake though? That she was perfectly happy with.

thursday

Ryann woke up with some awesome bedhead. It upset her just a bit :o). I got her a set of counting/sorting bears, she loves them! Not actually counting them or sorting them though, of course. She lined up all the cups and told me the yellow one was for me, the purple was hers, blue was for Daddy, red was for Kyle and green was for Chris. Kyle and Chris are a couple of our friends. I thought it was funny that she decided they were their cups, and she has completely stuck to that. Per the advent calendar Ryann got to unwrap a new book. And because there wasn't enough junk food in our house I decided to make more! Thankfully I dropped those sweets (along with a batch of cookies!) off to my friend Kenzie on Friday.

friday

My kid is cute. There is no denying it :o). And those little bears? They definitely keep her occupied. But man... they end up everywhere! We are still on the hunt for a good holiday dress. Ryann tried to humor me by playing dress up, but obviously it wasn't her first choice for our evening activity. Crazy bath hair and more awkward post bath faces. She looks THRILLED to be taking pictures with me.

saturday

The only phone picture I took yesterday was that awkward grocery store shot on the right. Apparently our day was lame? Not really... Chris took Ryann to the pet store (hello cheap indoor zoo) while I showered. And after dinner we made a little snuggle fort in the family room and watched a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie. It was a good day.

Really it was a good week. A great week (of course it helps that the hubby had three days off, THREE!). I'm hoping the next few weeks are just as fun, and not too stressful! We've packed our schedule full, but I'm sure we will enjoy it.

How was your week? Linking up with our week by iphone and instaFriday.

where are your pits?

2011-12-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

Just a couple videos to brighten your Saturday (that feels like a Sunday to me) night. Really I'm sure you're doing way cooler things than sitting around playing on the internet, but just in case :o).

Where are your pits? This video makes me smile so much my cheeks hurt.

And ok, this one is a little long, and random, but my kid is such a spaz. I LOVE her, but she is so goofy.

Have a good one!

random links

2011-12-09T15:21:00.001-06:00

I'm currently procrastinating designing our holiday cards. Why is it so terribly difficult for me to design stuff for myself? I decided sharing a few links would be a more effective use of my time. As a completely random side note, if pinterest doesn't get its act together soon I might have to go on a pinterest strike (I'm pretty sure that is a lie, but seriously). I just freaking want to search things! Come one pinterest!

I wish I liked coffee, or tea, or some sort of warm drink, so I had an excuse to have one of these cups. I mean I'm sure I could use them for my water, but that seems kind of lame, doesn't it?
Does anyone shop for clothes at Victoria's Secret? I rarely have, but there are some sweaters that look cute...
I made these cookies this week. The dough tasted AMAZING. And then I think I baked them a touch too long. They aren't as soft as I was hoping. Huge sad face :(. But that hasn't stopped me from eating several. It is junk food central in this house right now. Healthy eating fail!
Pretty sure Ryann's party will include glitter. Loving the sparkly heart on these invitations.
A little boy battling leukemia has a wish to receive 1,000,000 holiday cards in the mail for Christmas since he won't be able to go home. You can get details here.
My mom upgraded to an iPad 2, so I was the lucky recipient of her first model. I want a new case, and am currently obsessed with all things sparkly. Think this one could be reliable at only $4?
Love this idea to save old holiday cards. It is making me wish that A) I hadn't thrown away cards we received the last couple of years and B) we received more Christmas cards :o).

Ok. Back to designing stuff.

Bah.