Finally
Finally we can all ride in peace. Little Miss has never been a fan of her car seat. Ever. She became more of a fan as time went on and on, but it has always been a battle - until now (typed while knocking on wood).

We finally transitioned her out of the bucket-esque baby seat to a forward-facing chair car seat. It has made a world of difference and we have not since a single tear this week. A miracle.The first time I put her in it she started clapping before we left the neighborhood and her eyes were darting all over. We bought two, one for my car, one for Jack's. At her weight, so could still go rear facing, but I am not kidding, all her hollering is every bit as dangerous/distracting as any forward-facing adventure.

And Recaro? Not a normal car seat brand, right? Of course not. Apparently this company also makes race car seats and thus has very good safety ratings....according to my researching hubby anyway. The photos are close up because I had the wrong lens on, but you can get the picture. Perhaps now I will attempt to drive more than 25 miles away at a time (not exaggerating!).

Mother's Day 2013

I had a very special 2nd Mother's Day. My heart was full with gratitude for both my family and of course my own selfless mom and my mother-in-law who raised a remarkable son.  We're saving for our big family vacation this summer, so I said no gifts - and I really meant it. I just asked for a nice (relaxed) day all together, and I got just that!

Shelby and Jack cooked me a yummy breakfast and then later that afternoon we all went to the pool for a while. It was a very nice memory.

And the sweet ladies at school helped Shelby with this Mother's Day art. We're going to have to add on to our house to accommodate all her art....I just don't have the heart to throw any of it away. Too cute!!!

Ba-Bye

I think we can officially say that we're done with purchasing formula.....thank goodness. I've been doing a milk/formula combo for the last 6 weeks or so, but I think we're ok to go to just milk. The doctor thinks so anyway. Shelby still drinks quit a bit of milk, so I can give her 2% rather than the recommended Whole Milk. The whole milk was plugging her up a bit. I was grateful I had the option to turn to formula when nursing was no longer for me, but I will NOT miss spending roughly $50 on this pricey powder! Another chapter - closed.

Hellooooooo Pool Season

Party Time!

I have finally had a moment to sort through the dozens (actually hundreds!) of photos from Shelby's birthday. We hired a photographer to take pictures so she could capture every minute and we wouldn't have to worry about a thing! Oh what a day! Or really, what a weekend! We had SUCH a great time and I genuinely think our guests did too.  It was like planning a mini-wedding in some resects - ok, not nearly the work, but once it was over, I had a post-birthday letdown, similar to after our wedding.

The theme was "You Are My Sunshine," inspired by the sweet children's song. I picked that theme when she was about 4 months old; I just loved it. I kept the decor simple, classic and fun! The Shelby garland was a bit of an under-taking and I hired an incredibly talented friend to make the cake. Not only was is adorable, but tasty too. She outdid herself, making cupcakes, pretzels and cookies too!

The party itself was a total joy. Was it overboard for a 1 year old? Of course, but we knew that and were ok with it. Pre-Shelby we would host friends at our house pretty regularly, but over the last year we really haven't. Plus, we're always invited to our friends' houses for this and that, so it was nice to return the favor. In addition to snacks and pizza for the kids, we had a taco guy who made the most delicious tacos. I think we won the title of best party food of all time that day!

My mom, sister, aunt and nephew were so amazing and all packed in the car to make the 550+ mile drive through the desert to be there for her special day. It was SO wonderful. Although they were a little late, they all still met the majority of our guests. So hard to choose photos to share, but the below are a few that really tell the story...

I had no idea what to expect when it came time for the cake. I don't go around feeding Shelby cake, so I didn't know if she would be hesitant, or dig right in. It turns out it was definitely the later...it was pretty darn cute to watch.

And finally, a couple of my favorite photos from the whole day. Memories I will treasure forever!

Bloggerversary

Dang, I missed it by a couple days. The official Anniversary of my blog is May 7, when Shelby was just 11 days old. When I started this cyber-journal I was thinking I would keep it up (becuase that's just the way I am), but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to with everything else. I am pleased to say I have no plans for stopping! For now, it's my journal, life line to family and friend, is a bit of a hobby, and believe it or not,  has created some opportunities for our family (like free Gymboree!).

Thanks for reading and checking in on me....espeically when I get busy and don't post for a few days.

Just for fun, this is my first post, just look at that tiny red baby!
http://ourfamilyourlove.blogspot.com/2012/05/day-11-today-is-shelbys-11th-day-in-the.html

Q1

Like many homeowners our bedroom was the last to get any attention in the home improvement arena. In reality it should probably be the first room in the house to be decorated, painted, etc but because it's just Jack and I in there, it fell to the bottom of the priority list. Finally, I was sick of it.

In December, I gave us a "Q1" deadline for finishing our bedroom. In other words, by the end of March. It just had to be the priority, I was going bananas.  We've had paint samples all over the walls since Shelby was just 8 weeks old. Well, with much hard work and a decent amount of cash - our room is (mostly) done. We only missed our deadline by 3 days - I'll take it.

What all did we (mostly Jack) do?

• New faucets
• New bathroom hardware (towel rack, TP holder, etc)
• Created a new towel rack for our over-sized bath towels
• Removed large mirror over vanity
• Turned large mirror into a full-length mirror for bedroom (LOVE THIS!)
• Split power from one source to two, allowing for lights over each sink
• Patch drywall from above electrical work (and previous cable chore)
• Install two bathroom lights
• Refinished the frame over our bed, wood stain ---> white
• Hung two new mirrors
• Back splash bathroom's back wall
• Hung helves.
• Paint!

Ya, that's all. Good grief - I am exhausted just typing it. All the nuts and bolts are done, now we just need to decorate  I know Jack wants to build a window seat of sorts, but that is not my priority at all - I rather have his company on the weekends :)

W-la!

My new mirror - true love!

Bathroom:

And Now It's Time For a Fashion Shoot

Let's be honest -  one of the best things about having a little girl, over a little boy is undeniably the cute, cute, cute clothes! There are endless adorable options for girly baby clothes and in our case, swimsuits  For Shelby's birthday she received seven bathing suites - yes, seven! My sister was in town (who is mom to a boy) and she insisted on a baby fashion show. She was hoping to get Shelby in all the new outfits, but I knew that wasn't going to happen....we made it through three. She doesn't love getting dressed that much to begin with, so doing it  seven times in a row wasn't going to be an option :) She was very interested in picking the grass, but I loved it - I think it really captured her age and stage of curiosity and innocence.

Here's a look at some of sweet Shelby's pool and beach fashions for the summer.

These are actually some of my favorite photos - the full "behind the scenes" look. Hee hee.

Wardrobe: Andrea Appleton, Sister
Stage Hand: Nance Mosbacher, Mom
Photographer: Janis Arnell, Aunt
Journalist: Michelle Schenk
Model: My Little Miss

You Are My Sunshine

I know it'll be the weekend before I can actually get up my post, so here's a peek. What a wonderful, wonderful day. We love our little Sunshine. Happy 1st Birthday Shelby! More to come!

Discovery Children's Museum

Some of my family came to town to be here for Shelby's first birthday - it was wonderful. My sister, nephew, mom and aunt all piled in a car and drove nearly 600 miles to join us for Shelby's big day. Wylie is an active 6 year old boy so we decided it would be best to do something fun and out of the house on Sunday. We all decided to go to the newly opened Children's Museum, or as Wylie kept calling it "The Kidseum."

Both Wylie and Shelby had a great time. To my surprise there were exhibits even tailored to Shelby's age group.

Andrea, Janis and Wylie learning about how the brain works:

Jack even got in on the learning:

We made our last stop the "Water World" exhibit. We knew it would be a hit for Shelby and Wylie and we knew we'd leave with both of them a total mess....we were right on both accounts. This was no doubt the star attraction for our family.

You're Ugly

Yup. "You're Ugly," is likely what someone would have said to our yard if they passed by a week or two ago. It was awful. Two dead trees, dead plants, overgrown. It needed some TLC. We have such a tiny yard by many measures, I can't imagine what it would be like to maintain an real yard!

Getting the yard ready was one of our 10,000 pre-party to-do's! And on that note - I am sure you're more interested in the party itself than our yard, but I am getting there! This has been one hectic week to say the least. Plus, I want to make the post a memorable one:) I digress...

This was our pitiful yard pre-work. My pal Steve who maintains the Ethel M Cactus garden came and fixed everything up for us. He did a great job for a reasonable price.

Before:

Two tree removals, two tree plantings, two outdoor pots, a trimming and five plants later - this is what we're now looking it at. It turns out it was just in time - yesterday we received a "nasty gram" from the HOA about our dead tress out front. Thank goodness, we already had things resolved!

Of course, Jack already has another project waiting in the wings....staining our cement out front.