Back Splashin'

Remember when I posted about us looking at back splash tile for our kitchen back in July? Back when I started a fire on my stove when the tile sample took a nose dive into a boiling baby bottle?

Well, I am happy to report the back has been splashed! In fact, it has been done since Easter weekend - I am just a little behind on some of these posts. I think it looks amazing and as always, Jack is very attentive to detail so it looks like a professional job. In addition to the tile, he also put in under cabinet lighting....pretty snazzy!

And for those who don't recall what our kitchen looked like when we first bought the house, here is a reminder. Pay no attention to the activities unfolding....this was very pre-Shelby!

Yes! I am One!!

So many more photos from the weekend to share, but this is her official, I'm ONE photo. I could not ask for a better grin!

The Red Plate

Growing up I wouldn't say that we had a ton of traditions. We had a few and those that we did have mean a great deal to me. One of those traditions is The Red Plate.I don't recall exactly when The Red Plate became a part of our family dinner rituals, but I can certainly remember many occasions when myself, siblings or parents were awarded The Red Plate.

How do you get The Red Plate? Anyone could earn The Red Plate if they did something special.  It could be bestowed for something as obvious as a birthday, or as simple as being "the hero of the day," (one of my mom's favorite phrases) and reminding my mom to turn the tea kettle off before leaving the house. Good leadership, grades, awards, farewells and even milestones were all reasons for The Red Plate as well.  And it wasn't limited to our family, I remember on several occasions our family and friends getting The Red Plate at dinner too. The ritual was simple.  Once everyone was seated at the dinner table, my mom would typically stand and give a quick speech about why person X  was receiving The Red Plate. Then he/she proceeded to eat dinner from The Red Plate, rather than the normal dishes. It was fun and a memory and I treasure it.

Well, this week Jack got our family our very own Red Plate! I mentioned this was something I always wanted to do with my own family, so he scoured the web and now we have our own. He thought that with Shelby's birthday around the corner, it was the perfect time to start making those memories.

I cannot wait for all the toasts and special speeches for life's great adventures and triumphs that will be honored by our special Red Plate:

Sleeping Baby

There are few things more peaceful than a sleeping baby. I mean seriously.....look at those sweet little lips.

We Have Liftoff

Yes, it's true. My sweet baby girl found her legs. My mom said we all started walking shortly before our 1st birthdays and Shelby is right on track....13 days prior. She is still wobbly and can't make it far, but I am sure she'll be off and running by the weekend.

How did I capture the below? I knew she'd be motivated by my phone....wa-laaaaa.

Proud Laundry Moment

This post has nothing to do with milestones, home improvements, nor trials and tribulations. Instead, I would like to brag that I pulled this mess out of Shelby's school bag one day:

And after about 30 minutes of scrubbing, a day and a half of soaking and a wash cycle with max rinse, I got it back to this:

I have always had respect for my mom's laundry skills, but I do now more than ever. After a couple of her other new spring items did not fair so well I was determined to get this one cleaned up. No child of mine is going to school in stained clothes. Ick!

11 Months

Yup, 11 months.   It’s unbelievable. It’s even more incredible to think of all the learning and growing this little one has done in a single year.  It’s pretty amazing to think that less than a year ago she lived in my tummy, wrecking havoc on my sleep routine and  just 11 months later (and a few days!), she is a foot longer, about the walk, starting to talk and is getting pretty good at feeding herself!

Here’s the latest on our Shelby Pie!

• Long and skinny. She definitely needs 18 month clothes for length, but still does not fill out the onsies.
• Sleeps: 6:45 pm to 6:30, +/- 15 minutes on either side
• Teeth:  7 and a broken gum line on the bottom row
• Chatterbox:  Just last night I am pretty certain she said “Night night.”  As we go to put on her PJ’s I always tell her it’s “Time to go Night Night.” Well, last night she told me “Nigh Nigh.” She also belts out – mom, dad, dog, duck, up, hi and some kind of bye or bottle sound. She has not added a ton of words recently, but she used the ones she knows more regularly and appropriately now.

• Pointing! This is new and I love it. She points at what she wants, what’s interesting to her, etc
• OOOOOOOOOOO. There are just no words for this one, but if she’s excited about something she lets out a series of oooooo’s and often accompanied with a point.
•  Food. Still hit or miss, but we’re doing a little bit better. According to the pediatrician, she is only supposed to drink about 24 oz of milk a day at this stage, but I would say she drinks closer to 40. I swear, she eats so much better at school for her teachers than she does for me.
• Getting ready to walk. She can stand up without holding onto things and “finger walks” very well with someone holding her, but she has yet to take off on her own.
• Yummm, shoe! On the way home from school, I have been giving her a sippy cup in the back seat of the car. When she is done with her milk, she chucks the cup across the back seat.  A few minutes later I hear this squeaking noise….she is chewing on her shoe. Nice. And by nice, I mean so gross.
• Hair: Getting more and more blonde each day….and still wild as ever!

Jett Man!

Last week was awesome. My fabulous friend Amanda, her husband, sister-in-law and sweet little baby Jett came to visit. They currently live in wine country and were in route to Utah to visit some of their extended family. They made a stop in Vegas to break up the trip and for our sweet babies to meet.

Amanda and I have been friends since 7th grade. Of my friends from Placerville I keep in touch with her the most. And although we have now lived apart for more than a decade, our lives and outlooks have remained paralleled  for the most part.

Meet Jett. Pure sweetness.

Jett is exactly 11 weeks younger than Shelby. It seems like a lot right now, but that won't be the case for long. I gave Shelby her evening bath before they arrived and then right about the time we finished up, our fabulous company arrived. Shelby was about as excited as the rest of us were to have visitors. It was cute (and a tad surreal) to see our peanuts together.

I don't really love this photo of me, but I feel fortunate to have it and even more fortunate to have such a great friend for nearly 20 years!

xo

The San Francisco Treat

I am not proud of it, but my baby loves Pasta Roni and I have a video to prove it.  Shelby is still pretty picky about her finger foods, so I recently started having her try whatever I am eating (within reason). She has seven teeth, so with the right size bite, she can make her way through most textures. I make Pasta Roni about twice a year, so it was super random that I even had it on hand. I figured what the heck, I will see if she'll give it a taste. Hands down, this is her favorite thing she's ever eaten - the video says it all......

Easter Sunday

Easter was the last of Shelby's "firsts" in terms of holidays. By now she has done the whole holiday circuit.....4th of July, Halloween, Christmas, etc.  We had a very enjoyable day. We started the morning at the house. We put together an Easter basket for Shelby and allowed her to explore it in the back yard.  She was pretty darn cute...

After that we got Shelby dolled up in a sweet little dress for Easter. I just received a couple of really cute outfits in the mail (thanks Mom!) so it was hard to decide what to put her in. I went with the outfit that I picked our for her months ago though - I had been so excited to see her in it.

We went over to our friend Katie's house. This is the fourth or fifth time she has hosted Easter for our group of friends. As always, it was a great time and believe it or not, the Easter bunny even showed up!