Hey y'all!  Shall we resort to bullets on a Tuesday?  Yes we shall.

• My parents came for a visit this weekend!  Although they're leaving today *tear* we've had a grand time.  Natalie has been enjoying walks with Grandma where they stop to pick flowers together.  It's precious.  And according to my mom, Natalie can now say 'Grandpa.'  Not sure if it's true or not, seeing as the last time she was with just my mom, Natalie said 'cup' which she has yet to say since.  Time will tell!

• Oh, and guess what happened last week?  My sweet girl was able to wear her hair in a single pony!

How is she possibly this big?  Sorry for the crappy photo.  Girl is always on the move and this is the least blurry one I could snap.

• Also, I made a cake for a friend this weekend for a 1st birthday.  It was Paris themed!  Such a gorgeous idea.   

 

• We had a beautiful weekend with Daddy until he left us again for the week in NY.  We're secretly hoping his case will settle so he'll be home with us soon.

• I made these enchiladas over the weekend and they were fantastic!  Annie's website is definitely one of my go to blogs for yummy food.  It was a little involved seeing as you make your own enchilada sauce...but totally doable for a weekend meal.  

Party Deets From a Ladybug Picnic!

I thought I’d share a little bit about Nataile’s 1^st birthday party with you!  I think that was about the time I dropped off the face of the earth….

We hosted her party in January at our home.  Both my parents as well as Matt’s, along with my brother, sister, and her husband all came to celebrate.  Natalie invited several of her playdate friends as well as a few of Mommy’s.  As an aside, I will never invite this many people again.

First up, my beautiful, year old, baby girl. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I cannot take credit for this fabulous outfit.  I did nothing.  Well, I ordered the shirt.  Oh, and the leggings.  But that’s it.  My MIL made everything else.  I know, right?  So stinkin’ cute.

Next up…décor!

I should preface this by saying that I am not a crafty person.  I’m more of a wannabe.  So what’s a wannabe to do when her baby girl is turning one?  Outsource.  Insert my sister.  She made this adorable banner for Natalie that is, in all honesty, still hanging on our mantle.  It also became the most fussed over decoration before the party with practically my entire family assisting in its hanging.  The end results was nothing short of perfection.

 

 

I put Natalie's monthly pictures in terra cotta pots with fake grass to fit the ladybug picnic theme.  Those, too, are still on our mantle.  Matt and I sometime go over and try to pick out our favorite.  It changes every time :)

I stepped out of my comfort zone and whipped up some topiaries all by myself.  They were my “big” project for the party :)  Whoa.  I know.  Step back.

 

 

   

I printed this little image to serve as our guest book during the party so Natalie could have a keepsake of who came to her very first birthday.

Okay.  Let’s get to the good stuff.  The dessert table.  Now I may not be crafty, but I am a cake decorator.  This little table was my baby!  Truffles, cookies, cupcakes, candy, pretzels, marshmallows, cake…oh my.  Clearly I went a tad overboard.  But I was so happy with how it turned out and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  And I did make those labels myself…sort of crafty, right?

 

 

 

 

And here’s my sweet baby enjoying her first bite of cake.  Unfortunately, this moment did not go as perfectly as I had envisioned.  She’s smiling here, but seconds before she was screaming about being burned by the candle.  Yep.  You read that correctly.  The one thing you don’t want to happen to your child happened.  Ah the memories.

 

 

It was so much work...but so much fun.  Natalie had a great time with her friends and family and only had to leave 10 minutes early for a nap.  Pretty great, I'd say :)  I had crazy amounts of help from my family with the food and decorations and I could not have pulled it off without them.  Tis why I won't be doing anything like this ever again.  First birthday are a one time thing :)

Love you sweet girl!

All photos courtesy of Zoobee Photography

Fall with a Daughter

Sorry for my crazy long blog hiatus friends!  I didn't really do it on purpose.  Sometimes life just gets in the way, huh?  

We've been out of town and busy, busy, busy so I have lots of updates for you!  First up...apple picking!

Matt and I go apple picking every year and I was so excited to share it this year with our daughter.  As an aside, want to know something weird?  It still feels unreal to me to say "daughter" and know she's mine.  I have a daughter.  When will that sentence not feel like a dream?  I mean, the girl is 9 months old!

We ended up venturing out on a weekend that was a little cold and wet...but we still had a great time and came away with a ton of apples.  Good thing they keep well!  I have them coming out of my ears!

Girl looks more and more like her daddy every single day.  

We let Natalie try some of an apple and she didn't seem too impressed.  Apparently since she has some in her oatmeal almost every day she could have cared less it was fresh from the tree.  Girl is our child for sure.

Rocky Top Tennessee

Seriously peeps, check out what I'm giving away this week!

A few weeks ago Natalie and I took our first solo plane ride into Nashville to visit my aunt and uncle.  We had an absolute blast there.  We spent Monday-Wednesday with them in their gorgeous home and soaked up all of our one on one time with them that we could.  I cannot tell you how incredibly these two are.  Do you have those people in your life that you know God hand picked just for you?  Well these two are it for me.  I didn't come from a truly Godly home, but the best decision my parents ever made in terms of my faith was choosing these two as my godparents.  And I'm thrilled Natalie will have them as her examples as well.

before we left for the airport

view from our room onto the golf course

We took nightly walks with their dog Kali, ordered pizza, ate chocolate dipped strawberries, Skyped with my sweet, mama-to-be cousin in South Korea, and just relaxed.  Do you know what a weird feeling it is during nap time not to have something to clean or cook or someone to call?  It was amazing.

this is how Natalie sleeps...head right in the corner...every.single.night.

Thursday, Matt flew into Nashville and we made the drive into Gatlinburg.  His side of the family rented a cabin and we all stayed together.  It was...interesting.  I mean, don't get me wrong, it was lovely to see everyone and I am so glad Natalie got to spend time with her extended family.  But seriously, we did nothing.  All these people want to do is sit in a cabin all day and talk.  Call me crazy but if I'm going to drive my booty all the way to Gatlinburg, I'm going to at least go into the city and get myself some freaking fudge.  So after we put Natalie to bed on Saturday evening, Matt and I headed out by ourselves.  I got fudge, wine, and ended up having just the best night with my hubby.  And let me just add that after I have wine, I am much more open to just sitting around and talking.  Win, win people.  Win, win.

 every good road trip needs a stop at Shoney's right?

 

 someone is rapidly growing out of her clothes...

Our last day we did head out to the outlet mall and enjoyed a full day of shopping.  Somehow only Natalie and Matt ended up with anything.  Not sure how that happened.  Why do moms always get the shaft?  Hm.  We made the drive back to Nashville on Sunday (holy traffic Gatlinburg!) and flew back to Cleveland on Monday.  Although we had some serious travel issues (i.e. flight being delayed then cancelled...and 16 hours of traveling) we made it home in one piece.  My sweetie did develop her first cold when we were away and is still suffering from a runny nose.  And to top it off, we have tooth number 4 coming in.  When it rains it pours, huh?

Matt's sundae.  Perhaps we should've gone with the regular?

And coming up...how I was almost killed by a raccoon.  And no I am not lying. 

Up, Up, & Away!

As you're reading this, Natalie and I are flying the friendly skies to Nashville, TN to visit my godparents.  I am so excited to spend some real, quality time with them.  Our visits are few and far between and I intend to remedy that situation immediately.  They are amazing, Godly people and I want Natalie to spend as much time with them as possible.  And their sweet daughter is newly pregnant so they need to get in some practice with the babies! 

Here they are at my wedding.  Don't you just want to squish them they're so cute!?!  Oh I cannot wait to get there!

Matt will be joining us on Thursday and then we'll be driving down to Gatlinburg for the remainder of the week for a family reunion with his side of the family.  I am less than thrilled about this trip...but the cabin looks amazing so I am trying to be optimistic.  Perhaps the view will make up for awkward silences and snide comments?  I'll let you know.  At least I have that great excuse now for when I don't want to do something..."I'm so sorry I can't go to dinner with you guys!  But it's Natalie's bedtime.  Maybe next time?"  Nursing saves me again!

Hope y'all have a fabulous week!

Wordless Wednesday

Impromptu Four Generation Pic (AKA:  why I'm in my pajamas)

PCB 2011, Baby!

On the 3rd of July, we left bright and early in the morning for Panama City Beach!  My whole family is big into road tripping.  Me.  Not so much.  I think the idea of it sounds really fun.  But once I'm in the car for more than an hour I'm completely bored.  Luckily, Matt feels the same way.  So flying it was.

Enter Natalie's first flight.  

 

She did so great!  I decided to bring the boppy with me on the plane and it was the best decision I ever made.  It gave me a comfortable place to feed her and then she was able to fall asleep!  Girl slept almost the whole time on all the flights.  Passengers even complimented us!  Like we did anything...but it was nice to hear :)

Once we got settled in the condo, we headed downstairs for Natalie's first swim!  However, the girl was so pooped from her early morning flight that she fell asleep on the way down to the pool.  Ha!  I let her hang out with Grandma in the stroller and I got some much needed pool time with my sister and her hubs.  

But once she woke up, girl was ready to play!

She had so much fun!  The floatie we bought for her worked so well.  Until she discovered she could put her face down in it and suck up water.  Yeah.  That was awesome.  I finally decided to bring Sophie the Giraffe down to the pool with us so Natalie would be distracted with her and it worked.  Sophie, however, will never again squeak the same.  Ha!

We spent the rest of the vacation transitioning between the pool and the beach.  Natalie was not much of a beach fan, especially when Mama accidentally let a wave hit her.  Plus, the sand got EVERYWHERE!  We had to immediately hose Natalie off in the sink when we got back.  I don't think there was a spot on her body that wasn't covered in sand.

 

On the 4th, we watched fireworks from our balcony.  They shot them off from the pier and we had the best seat in the house.  And most importantly, Natalie didn't wake up at all!  We also celebrated with this yummy trifle my dad made.

I'm so grateful Natalie got to spend so much time with her family on this trip.  It's rare all of us get together, especially uninterrupted for a week so this trip was priceless.  

Plus, my sister got to experience Sonic for the first time!  We were happy to take her there.  Twice.  Maybe once right after we had Chick-fil-A.  Hey.  No judgies.  What are vacations for?

And yes, Matt did come.  I just realized he really wasn't in any pictures.  Ha!  He's not much of a beach vacation person.  He spent most of his time in the condo playing Monopoly on his iPad.  But as long as he wasn't working, he was happy as a clam.

Natalie took fantastic naps in her stroller by the pool everyday which allowed me some time to visit with my family and enjoy the weather myself.  She slept great in her pack 'n play and was just such a good little baby the whole time.  I will say, Matt and I were not fans of sharing a room with our little booger.  She's a loud sleeper and kept us up quite a bit.  And the early morning wake up calls weren't so much fun either.  But overall, she did a fabulous job during her very first vacation.  We can't wait to do it again!

 

Oh, did I forget to mention I chopped all my hair off??