Booties and Bows

Simple to follow tutorials for the bows can be found here by Just Another Army Wife.

And the booties are Heather Bailey's Bitty Booties pattern. They are super simple, but come out super cute!

Things To Do When There's Nothing To Do

Or in my case, too many things you'd rather not do. In my attempt to avoid doing the dishes, vacuuming, and heading to Target, I came across some pretty creative things out there in Cyber Space.

1. Check out the Write Me a Bear Story over at Allsorts.

2. Where would you live? I'd live at Pottery Barn.

3. Practice new hair-dos. Everyone at my house's hair is too short, but I love these things. Plus, if I could be anyone, Heather Bailey would be a top choice.

4. Express yourself. Become an M&M.

Pics for Grammy

I promised daily pics for my mom. It has suddenly become more urgent that she help find an opening with JPL in Pasadena. I wonder why?

Good Morning!

Shop Till You Drop

Lets just be honest. Some people are shoppers, some are not. I am a shopper. I get a sort of high from finding a good deal. It's not even just about the stuff, but the thrill of the hunt if you will for a fabulous bargain. Then like any other addiction, there is the crash; the guilt, the remorse and the justification to loved ones (mainly my handsome husband), until you can go out and do it again. I know I'm being dramatic here, but seriously there is something to shopping that is relaxing and even cathartic at times.

This is going to sound pathetic to some, but there are specific places in the local shopping where I can remember some of the lowest of lows in my life. When I was upset and depressed about not having a child, I bought baby clothes. While in school and pining to get out of our cinder block rabbit hutch at BYU, I bought things for the house. I loved to shop for baby things. Most times I was able to talk myself out of a purchase (obviously... who was going to use it?) But there were times when I came home with a purchase and put it in the closet to save for another day. I'm not proud of it, but due to my weakness for a deal I have contributed to the $20-billion dollar a year infant/toddler/preschool market.

Now that I've gotten that out, the real reason for the post is to share some of my favorite things...Buying baby stuff is so much fun, even when you don't have a baby! It's just so gosh-dang cute. (I know, I know. Now that I am a mommy, I have to watch my mouth.)

#1. Baby legs- These are one size fits all leggings that come in all sorts of prints. I love them! They are warm and cozy and of course gosh-dang cute!

They can be found at Babylegs and also at Target.


#2. Oeuf Baby Lounger- This thing is awesome! Sturdy and cute! Not to mention it is how I get a shower these days. When Little Miss is awake I stick it in the bathroom so I can hear her while I shower. (I take very, very long showers) And now I have an audience to my singing!

You can find it at BabyGear online. I got mine new on E-bay! (LOVE the Ebay!)

#3. Fleurville Diaper Bag- This was one of the first pre-baby baby things I bought. One of its many cool features is that it is made with Green-LAM™, ®Fleurville’s very environmentally friendly polyurethane laminate. Which means it appeals to the tree hugger side of me, and can be easily wiped off!

You can order any of their bags at Fleurville. I bought mine at TJ Maxx. (Unless it says Coach, more than $100 bucks on a bag that will carry poopy diapers is a little much for me.)

#4. The Cradle- This is THE cradle. I drooled and drooled over this when I saw it on a website. But due to the price, I could not justify it. Even in the depths of despair. So, as if by some small token of providence, I found it one day at Costco for 75% OFF! I almost bought all of them, but resisted.

#5. Baby slings! Any and all types. I love them. I'm proud to say that I have finally figured out how to tie it and put her in it without someone else to help.

There are all types. There's the New Native, PeanutShell, Hotslings, Moby Wrap... and on and on. Mine was made by a good friend of mine. Thank you Naomi for the wrap! It is awesome!

You can find out more at www.mamatoto.org

Thank you to all the family and friends who have been oober-generous at feeding my addiction to cute kid stuff! It is really appreciated! Little Miss has a closet full of pink and an already growing collection of shoes. The first week my mom was here I was excitedly showing her all that I had collected and she said, "You know Yannette, they're not dolls!" I beg to differ. The first few weeks you don't do much but look at them, so you might as well change it up a bit by changing their outfit!

By the end of the day...

I had been pooped on, peed on, was covered in frosting, smelled like Mexican food, and looked like I had more eyeshadow under my eyes rather than on my actual lids, and my kitchen looked like Costco exploded. Which it kind of did, since I shop primarily at Costco and decided that I would cook. And if you're going to cook you might as well make a mess. Again, did I mention that I cook now? Sort of. I pointed out to John after the cupcakes were baked, frosting whipped, and dinner eaten that it took me almost an hour and half for one of Rachel Ray's 30 min meals. But hey, I'm actually cooking... that is an improvement to say the least.

So the funny story of the day...the being pooped on part... Little Miss is going to hate this story as she gets older. But her Papa will love telling it to every boy that comes within a quarter mile of our house. I took her to get her one month pics done at J C Penney. Of course I had to get some naked ones, so I was holding her and the Photo-taking Chick was clicking away. With one hand behind her head and one on her bottom she started making the cutest little faces. The Photo-taking Chick is still clicking away when I interrupt with "...umm...she just pooped..." Yes, in my hand. What could I do? It would have been everywhere. It was more than usual which would just figure. The Photo Chick was mortified. So here I am with a handful of you know what trying to make HER more comfortable. I start babbling to Little Miss about how it's a good thing mommy is nurse and how it's not the first time I've been pooped on just so the chick can quit freaking out that I'm not freaking out. And Little Miss, obviously more comfortable, went back to sleep. Poor girl. She doesn't even know that she's just embarrassed herself for her entire Jr. High and High School years.

So, after all of that, I only accomplished four things on my actual To-Do list. When I told my handsome husband, he said, "Well you're doing better than I did. I didn't get the #1 thing on my To-do list done." When I asked what it was he replied "Write a to-do list". Ha ha! He thinks he's so funny. At that point we just gave up on the day being very productive and watched the commentary on the Lord of the Rings. We must be the biggest nerds on the planet to watch the Lord of the Rings with the cast commentary. But at least he still loves me at the end of the day.

Happy Mes-aversary!

When we were dating and were counting months this was our corny saying! Un Mes is a month in Spanish. Yes it is dumb, but we were in love. Anyway...


Today is our little girl's Mes-aversary! This is a huge deal in the process of building our family and we are so excited! It means a lot for us and for the rest of you it means I feel more comfortable posting pictures of her. It would take days to load them all so I'll only post a few this morning.

We celebrated by sleeping through the night (down at 9, up at 1 then down till 5) Yay! And today we will bake cupcakes and have pictures taken. Since neither of us actually like cake we will take them to Megan (a friend of of ours) who turns 11 tomorrow!

O'dark-thirty this morning. She is not camera shy as you can see. Even at 5 am.



This is Little Miss in her snow suit while in Utah. (Yes, I drove to Utah for a funeral with a three week old. I must have bumped my head to think it was a good idea, but we survived it thanks to my sister going with me.)

Mommy has enough love, just not enough arms.

This is my new mantra. I say it to Ani all the time when she tries to climb on my lap with Little Miss already snuggling there. But shes not picky, she is content to lay across my feet on the ottoman. Which is kind of funny since she's only 85 lbs. Oh how life has changed!...for the better.

I'm not even going to apologize for neglecting my blogging. Simple explanation- I have a three week old, a coonhound, and a weimaraner. Not to mention I'm a wife and there is a cat in there somewhere.

Life is good. The learning curve has been steep but being a mommy to my little monkey has come more naturally than expected. It is the hardest, most fulfilling thing I've ever attempted. (For those of you who are appalled at my calling my little girl a little monkey, relax. It is out of love. And if you've seen her you know that the only resemblance she has is she has long fingers. She is a beautiful and precious baby.) And we are only three weeks into this. The best thing about parenting is that you learn every single day. In the last 24 hours I've learned that breast milk clears up baby rashes, formula stains silk pajamas (sorry Victoria Secret), and Little Miss doesn't mind being licked by the beasts as much as we do. Those are just the really minor things. Mostly we have learned to love more deeply than we could have imagined. Not just her, but each other. Our family is more complete and more content simply by having her here. We are very lucky and very happy where we are at right now.

I know that I've been stingy with pictures, and I have my reasons for it, but I will post some soon. I promise.