My little student.

We bought Elliana this table back in February {pictures from February as well}

Ever since, she really adores it.

We have it sitting by a great big window that faces the outdoors where she gets to watch people, dogs, and the cars that vroom vroom by.

She does her "schoolwork" on it.

She plays with her toys on it.

We doodle.

And she makes faces. Who knows what for, but there are definitely quite a few faces.

Like this one.

And this one.

And this pitiful one.

Have I ever mentioned that I used to want to be a teacher?
Well I did. Still do. And now?

I have my own little student.

Sweet Chicky rocked our cheeks off.

When my friend Katie emailed me about her new business, Sweet Chicky, that her and her mom had started, I was instantly excited for her.

Not just because her and my baby girl are so close in age. Or the fact that she is a rockstar mom. But because I always love to hear when friends, moms, women, do something that they love and go for it.

Diaper covers, sun hats, sweet little shirts. A mama's dream come true.

And then I was pleasantly surprised when I went to visit her etsy shop that there were boy diaper covers as well. Often times, boy moms are always stuck with the not so cute outfits whereas the girls have endless amounts to choose from.

So I love that Katie has not forgotten about the handsome stylish little men out there.

Katie offered to send Elliana something, and of course I happily accepted.

When the package came in the mail, E and I may have done a little happy dance {as we always do with the delivery man makes a little trip to our house}. And this time, I let her open it.

A lot of "ooohhh" and "aahhh."

Mainly from me. I was really really taken back on how adorable this little outfit truly was. The color was just perfect. Very girly. And surprisingly? Not pink! E's closet is full of pink, so I am always looking for other colors to add to her wardrobe while still incorporating the girly part that we love the most.

And this outfit did it. And it came pre-washed Free&Clear so we put it on right away!

From the little diaper cover, to the cute onesie. And the hat! Please, lets talk about the hat.

My girl has a large head. Okay... lets be nice here. She has a nicely rounded noggin'. Better. So it was so sweet of Katie to get my baby's measurements beforehand so that it would actually fit. And it did!

And we love love loved it. It will definitely come to good use during the scorching hot sunny days this summer.
Overall, I was so pleased, and pleasantly surprised by the quality of the outfit. Please stop by her shop and check out all of her goodies! 

**I was not paid to write this post. I was not even asked to do this. I did this on my own, all opinions are my own, and I did this mainly to support a fellow friend, blogger, and mama. 

$16.00 Jacket sale is back

Just when I thought that I had bought enough jackets, they do it to me again. Remember this sale? And how I ended up with total of 6 new jackets? Not to mention the 2 I had purchased previous to that. Yes,  It's called a problem.  Some are Christmas presents, mind you.

But yes. They are back. Different ones. Springy ones.

Some are long. Some are short. Some are lightweight. Some are heavier. Colors, and more colors. And styles. Lots of styles. BUTTONS.

And not to mention, price.

Go check them out here! Get yours shipped free if you are new!

Now... how do I narrow down my choices......

------------------

update. I only ordered.... 6. EEK.
a few as Christmas gifts. Don't look here family. You can't peek!

Thursday Randoms. Instagram dumps. And more.

1.Hair bows. 

Many of you have asked me where I get Elliana's hair bows. I actually have gotten them from numerous different places. Some from local boutiques. Others from stores like TJMAXX. And some have been sent to me by business owners. But for the most part, you can find the basic colored bows that E wears all the time on etsy. If you click on this link it will send you to the search that I use to find her bows.

2.Painting master bedroom
I'm doing it. We are doing it. Once we got our new furniture in the room, I realized that the color we painted our master 2 years ago was just not what I wanted. Anymore. So we have the color picked out and hopefully the room will be done THIS WEEKEND!!

3.Money in the bank vacation
As I have mentioned before, we are planning on going on a vacation with my family in August. And my dad is in charge of finding the place and such. Well, that is turning out to be a not so good idea. Because my parents have to stay at the most top notch hotel and such.... and as a result this trip is going to end up costing us. Which means... I need to start selling my body...... kidding.

4. Had to get new tires
That was lovely. Unexpected. But now my beauty has 4 new wheels.

5. 3 new books to read
I have 3 books that I am reading... and right now? I am too lazy to go find out what they are. I know 2 of the names. The Wedding, Nicholas Sparks. And Mercy, by Jodi Picoult.

1. Swinging. After a 3 mile walk. The queen E insisted.

2. The pretty trees we see on our walk. We love them.


3. Elliana at the grocery store when she sees something exciting. She's a princess.

4. The food preparation for this meal. That turned out AMAZING {minus the rice... I ran into some issues}. But it's so healthy and we will definitely be making it again. If you don't like rice, you can omit it.. or it would taste amazing with pasta as well!

5. My other wreath I mad a couple days ago. For only six dollars! And yes, I will be doing a tutorial next week.

6. The easter bunny is coming to our house. Well ya. He better. And I fully expect a basket for myself.

7. Our walks. Self-explanatory.

8. And I even grew some and took the dog with us one morning. That was interesting.

9. The Queen and the Princess. Our outfits before the Zoo over the weekend.

Also. I just purchased 5 different scarves. I am a bit obsessed? No? Totsy never fails me. If you haven't signed up {it's free}, do so! You get free shipping on your first order :)

Straight out of a dental horror movie. Starring: BECKY.

Lets talk about my recent dental experience.

To catch everyone up lets just give a little brief run down. My tooth chipped when I was pregnant. And by chipped, I mean it was mostly gone. Gone gone. Gone with the wind. Poof be gone my pearly white molar {most of it}. Like magic. One minute it is there... and the next? Not.

And the kicker? It was while eating soft white bread. Now if that is not the dental devils kicking me straight in the rear... then I don't know what is.

But, good news? It didn't hurt. Or, not so good news. As this resulted in me completely ignoring it {bad nurse bad}, and going about my way.

And then we started having this crazy baby talk. You know... the baby number two talk. And I said "crap shat mother eff ugh. suck. beh."  In so many words.

Because this meant I had to go to the dentist. This meant that I had to deal with the situation. And the situation I did not want to deal with.  But when it comes to my babies and their safety? Then that of course comes number one.

And dental hygiene in pregnant women is very important.

So I make the call. I set up the appointment. I even go as far as show up to the appointment. That is a shocker in itself. I sit in the chair, and I open wide.

"Well yah. Boy. You sure did chip it." Ahem. Smarty pants. Would you like a cookie for that brilliant observation?

And then the dreaded words. "Wellll... although you haven't hit nerve yet, you are close. And although I could just fill it, I am afraid that you may just end up needing {insert panic face right about now as I already know what he is about to say} a root canal."

I could have slapped him in the face. I could have even thrown my purse at him. I don't know about you. Although this and although that business doesn't fly with me. Put it to me straight doc. Do I need one or not. Don't butter me up. Don't sugar coat it. I'm not food here.

So yes. I did need one. And I got one. And I survived {who would have known}. And I was even {hate to say this} pleasantly surprised of how not bad it was after all. It may have had to do with the fact that the dentist babied me and talked me through the whole thing. Or the fact that he gave me a little extra numbing. And he even gave me breather breaks. Drama queen.

And so I thought the worst part was over. My friends. My twitter buddies. Bloggers. Everyone shouted out at the top of their lungs "WORST PART OVER! Now you just have the crown left. Piece of cake."

I'll show you a piece of cake.

It.Was.The.Worst.Experience.Ever.

First, the dentist puts this contraption in my mouth. Looks like the thing is going to eat my face and then work its way down. Then, without telling me, the said "contraption" starts squirting water in my WIDE OPEN mouth. And then I start gagging while this contraption is still in my mouth prying it open. And after the dentist took it out of my mouth... there was a lot of...

"Well. Gee. Don't ya think you should warn someone before you try to choke them." Common courtesy. All while I'm still choking and gagging in between words. Talk about traumatic experience.

So I x'd that idea. The contraption idea. Doc needs to figure out a new device. And he needs to figure it out quick. And we went on our way.


1.5 hours later. A lot of JABBING of my gums by a said dental tech that did not peep one word to me. Not even her name. Hello. If you are going to take your anger out on my gums, say a thing or two. It's already awkward enough.

Needless to say... I ran out of there at the speed of the light.  But not without telling the dentist that this is exactly why I fail to show to the "every 6 month appointments."

No call no show to the devil chair. Mmmhmm... no thanks.

Why yes, I DO have a craft for you. And it costs virtually NOTHING to make. MARCH LINK UP DIY

originally written 3.26.12. 

So I have to confess here. I completely forgot about my craft link-up. Like completely forgot. I didn't even have anything posted about it, and therefore if no one links up, I am totally okay with it.

In fact, I may just do away with the link-up part and just do the craft post once a month as I had planned on doing from the beginning.

I guess we will just see how many people have crafts up their sleeves this month. If they even remembered about it. 

Originally, I had planned on going to Michael's and getting a styrofoam wreath and then getting gumballs and doing the whole springy/easter wreath deal. Great idea, no?

Well then the toddler decided to sleep. And sleep. And sleep some more. I mean her nap was literally never-ending.

So here I am, with my hair up in the towel, another towel wrapped around my body and an idea just clicked in my head.

I have everything here. Why don't I try something different of a wreath.

If you asked my husband how many un-used frames we have in our home.... he would give you an insane answer. It's almost sick. And a lot of them? We will never use.

So it's almost like a hoarding problem. But you know. whatever. I love frames because I love pictures.

So I grabbed one out of the attic. Took out the glass and cardboard, and went to town.

I have lots of "fake flowers" stored in my closet... just because I like to switch them out from time to time. And at first I wasn't sure with what look I was going to go with.

I knew I wanted to incorporate the wooden S that I had purchased at Michaels a ways back for 50 cents, but I wasn't sure what colors I wanted to go with it.

Eventually, I chose colors that would match my front door. Because after-all, I am a matchy-matchy kind of girl. And the whole bright blue or pink or whatever other spring color was definitely not-me, or for my home.

And then the glue gun came out. And I just whipped it up. Just like that. Flowers all around, little green leaves, and that beautiful S. Now. The S was just "wood" so I painted it a very light brown/tan color. And for the ribbon, I used ribbon that I had in my craft box and just painted the white side the same color as my S.

And then I hung it on the door and called it a day.

Sure, it isn't perfect. And no it's not my favorite thing ever... but now? I have ten more frames and lots of ideas brewing in my head.

Best part about it? It was FREE to make.

Second best part? I didn't have to make an extra trip to get supplies.

Third best part? The toddler is STILL napping.


Last best part? I am still sitting in nothing but my towels on.

BLISS.

Grab the code below for the button and link up!

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2 bloggers. 2 toddlers. And a Children's Museum.

A couple of weeks ago, when Aly @ Analyze This asked me if E and I would like to go out to lunch with her and her little niece and then go to the Children's Museum, one thing pooped into my mind. The checklist. You know, my 25 {more like 28} things to do before E turns 2. Yes, that checklist.

And needless to say, I have been wanting, dying, to take E to the museum now that she has been all into exploring, discovery, and learning about all the different things around her. She's so into the exploring stage.


And any excuse to have a mama daughter date? I'll take it.

Thank you i-phone.

Aly and I met for lunch at a locally owned restaurant that had the environment suited best for two tiny little rambunctious tots. But environment is key in my mind. In fact, it was the first thing I asked her in the email when she proposed the idea of meeting up on this lovely Saturday afternoon.

Noise much? Yes, please.

We were seated close to the door with people swarmed around us waiting for their turn. Cearly, the place is hopping {my attempt at sounding cool}. I mean it only took the waiter 5 hours to get to our table. But who is counting right? Obviously not this mama who knows that every minute is oh-so-precious when you have a ticking time bomb {a toddler waiting to make a scene}.

But I had ammo here. Another toddler. Another little girl. And E?

Well she was totally buying it. She stared at this litle girl. Watched what she did. And what she did? She wanted to do too. It was by far the cutest thing I had ever seen.

So much so, I couldn't help but giggle like a little school girl.

My little precious toddler girl here was amazed that she was sitting next to another little human. Just about as amazed as I was. 

Thank you i-phone.

By the time our food came, the girls {including ourselves} were starving. We scarffed down the food. E with her PB&J sandwich with a side of fruit. And me with my tomato soup. Which by the way I had to remind myself to eat. I'm not even sure why I waste the time ordering food. I eat a fraction of it. A couple bites here and there.

I'm too busy snatching away a spoon here. Or a knife there. Or grabbing the hand before it hits the glass of water, surely ending in a shatter on the ground. Or how about the climbing out of the high chair. Good thing this one had a strap... Lord knows we have run into trouble before with the high chairs with no strap. Yes, yes, we have.

By the time lunch was over, I was just thankful dishes hadn't been thrown on the ground. Shrieks weren't heard. And everyone was still in one piece. Including myself.

As we started packing up and getting the girls ready to head out, E stood next to Maggie, and that is when it happened.

She held her arm out {I'm sure to pat her, as she does too often}. And then Maggie reached her hand out. And they held hands. And it was the cutest thing my mommy eyes laid on that day. CUTEST.THING.EVER.

So cute, that I swore I needed a picture. So we hurried out the door. I layed my bag on the ground. Scurried to get my camera out and lid off, and then we did it. We aligned the two next to the window, and proceeded to give them direction. "Okay, do it again! Hold hands."

It lasted .2 seconds. And then E was all about turning around, facing this way or that way. She was all sorts confused. So a lot of back pictures I got. But whats a mama to do? I mean really. I needed to. HAD to. Snap those pictures. It was a first in my baby's book, and I needed evidence of it. All while all the people in the restaurant peered through the window to witness a nutty old first time mama.

Me. Obviously.

Here. Let's take a closer look at that picture above. Proof. We made people's lunch that day.

But that was just the first of many more mama-must-get-out-camera experiences to come. After all, we had the childrens museum next.

And that? Well that was all sorts of insane. So much so that I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

The pictures are beautiful.
The day was beautiful.

But the best part?

My baby girl has a little friend. And that?

Is beautiful.


                                                                                      oh. and the fact that I checked another thing off the list. CHECK.