Dennis the Menace….

Don’t let this face fool you:

Although he looks totally innocent, if you let your guard down, even just for a minute, you’re left with this:

Complete and utter destruction

And I think he’s afraid of getting lost or something because there is a trail of cheerios (strike that, was a trail of cheerios until I stepped on them, smashing them to smithereens) all over the house. Sigh.

Thank God for that face.

-Linds

A little sewing for me….

I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of sewing lately but it’s been for other people, namely those with protruding bellies with my favorite things inside . I just had an urge to do some sewing for me and I wanted to do something different. I’m always looking for that next inspiration/challenge. Well my latest project was anything BUT a challenge but sooooo fun to sew because each took like 30 minutes to make and were super easy. Super easy+super quick= super gratifying and one happy Lindsay!

It all started when a bunch of us from work got together for lunch and a girl I used to work with, Shauna (Hi Shauna!) showed up in the the ca-uutest navy blue and chevron maxi skirt! I’m obsessed with all things striped in the fashion world right now and chevron is pretty darn cute too. She said she got it at Target so I even dragged my hubby to 2 different Targets (on date night, nonetheless!) in an effort to snag one of these puppies for myself. But no such luck. All that were left on the wrack were gray skirts in size XXL . I was so disappointed. But then I ran into this maxi skirt tutorial over on Leanne Barlow’s blog “Elle Apparel” and decided to just make my own. I sewed the whole thing using just a rolled hem on my serger and didn’t even bother to hem the bottoms because being knit, they won’t fray. Sa-weet! In LoOovVvvEeE! These things are so comfy!

Forgive my cuh-rappy photography skills (or Steph’s rather , ha ha. Sorry for throwing you under the bus Steph. I DO appreciate your cooperation) and I am most definitely NOT a model, nor ever want to be one so don’t focus on my standard arms-akimbo-stance in all 3 photos. Just go with it and focus on the puuuurty skirts, pleaseandthankyou . My plan is to wear them until they are thread bare and ideally not be sick of them by the time baby number 2 comes along, because they have a yoga style top to them and I remember those to be a dream to wear with a big ol’ belly. So without further ado, here they are:

Just a plain,solid purple (and this just so happened to be the tank top I was already wearing today)

And my fun zebra print one! Here I just tucked my tank in and put on a belt

Same skirt obviously with my tank un-tucked. I think I like it un-tucked better. I’ll bet my photographer readers are cringing right now at my chosen place for a photo-op. Ha ha. sorry Beck, I know lighting and background are supposed to be important. Meh. Don’t care.

I have one more printed fabric I bought today to make a third skirt but I’m going to make it some other time. Wouldn’t want to go overboard or anything .

And I can’t end a post without a picture of my babycakes:

In true ham bone fashion.

The baby’s in bed and our hubbies aren’t home so Steph and I are going to watch The Hangover II now .

Na Night,

-Linds

Some more new kicks for Eli…

I’m seriously dying over here watching Eli walk around in his new shoes from my grandma Jerri. I’m pretty sure I showed you guys these shoes back in December when my grandma sent them to us for Christmas but his feet were too tiny then. Well not anymore moooooreeee. Check him out walking in them, hilarious!

Thank God for technology and video making capability

Later Gator,

-Linds

Eli knows where his belly button is…

I just HAVE to show you all his latest big boy move. He now hikes up his shirt and points out his belly button when you ask where it is. So stinkin’ ca-uute!

I was able to get it on video so here it is.

I could just eat him up!

Ok, back to playin’. Catchya later!

-Linds

My two favorite boys…

I’ve been waiting for that day when a 7month age difference between Eli and his best bud would not even be noticeable and I think we’re getting pretty darn close. Jac and Parker stopped by today to hang out for a little bit and I thoroughly enjoyed watching these two toddle around and “play” with each other. Parker is obviously way more steady on his feet and runs but Eli is catching up. Now the difference is Parker says actual words (totally melts my heart listening to him talk!) and Eli just stares at him and then says something unintelligible, but they act like what they’re saying is clear as day! Too funny.

Our buds. Parker was rocking some pretty cool hair today so I had to get a pic.

Having a private conversation. Mom’s not allowed.

Seriously?!?! Does it GET any cuter than this?!?!?! Both having a drink and enjoying the ride .

Ha ha. Hi Honey

They are so fun. Sigh.

Night night y’all.

-Linds

My big boy is ONE year old!!!

Ahhhh! Can you believe it??? That also means that I’ve been blogging a little over a year! I’m so happy I did because I LOVE looking back at how much he’s changed. People always say “enjoy it all because in a blink of an eye, they’re all grown up” which is a big reason why I chose to blog. I wanted to document all the momentous occasions and be able to look back at it and relive those moments accurately. And bubs, you made it all so much fun!

Remember my glow worm, just a few days old?!

How about how little he is in this video. Remember this??

And my big boy today:

This past year has been everything I ever wanted it to be and more. My dream has always been to become a mom and I feel I’m living the dream. I thank God every day for entrusting me with such a precious responsibility and for pairing me with a motivated, intelligent, loving, and very hands-on daddy who has worked hard to provide for our little family in order for me to cut down my hours at work and spend this important, foundation-building time with Eli. Muuuuah! Love you honey for helping me live the dream .

As for you Eli, you are a blast to be around. You have such a fun personality and it only takes a few moments for you to wrap complete strangers around your little finger (Go figure! With Grandma so tightly wound I didn’t think there would be room for anyone else!) You’re quickly learning that with a shy smile and a tilt of your head you can get people trippin’ over themselves to give you anything your little heart desires. This concerns me! You just turned one, where did you learn to flirt???

Ok, shall we tell everyone your 1 YEAR stats? Ok lets do it!

Size: He is probably the only child I know who is wearing his age in clothes! Ha ha. He fits pretty nicely in the 12m clothes, although I find the waist band of 9m pants still fit the best. He’s grown 3 inches since his 9m well visit which means he measures at 30 1/2in tall! He’s 19lb 9oz, up 2 lbs since last weigh in. Definitely my little string bean.

Likes: Finger foods and feeding himself, exploring, cheerios, fruit, hoarding, watching things he’s dropped hit the floor, making noises with his mouth, and sleeping on his belly.

Dislikes: No new dislikes that I’ve noticed. Same as last month.

Feeding: Yay me! I made it to my goal of nursing for a whole year! Woo hoo! We still nurse 4x a day, first thing in the morning, before each nap and at bedtime. I think I’ll continue until it’s not practical anymore or he stops nursing. I feel like we nurse because I want to, and that he could really take it or leave it. So we’ll just play it by ear as far as how much longer it’ll be. He’s still loving all kinds of foods and I’m really enjoying getting and preparing new food recipes for him to try . I stopped pumping back at 10m so I’m all out of frozen breast milk. My plan is to give him organic rice milk or almond milk while he’s with grandma on days I work. I’m going to hold off on cow’s milk for the time being. Our pediatrician said the main thing is him getting calcium so it doesn’t matter if its cows milk or other foods/drinks just as long as he gets it.

Sleeping: No real changes here. He’s been a great sleeper for a while now. He goes to bed between 6:45-8pm (depending on activities we have going on each day) and gets up at 8am. He’s about 50% when it comes to sleeping through to 8am or waking up at 6ish to eat and then going back to bed. He’s also been really good about taking 2 naps during the day.

Milestones: He’s officially walking…a LOT! Lack of balance doesn’t stop him from speed walking either. I’ll be excited when he prefers walking to crawling when we’re out and about and I’d otherwise have to carry him. Sheesh he gets heavy (and there is NO way I’m letting him crawl on icky public floors!) He also now walks all over the house going “Ma? Mom? Mom?” or “Dod? Dod? Dod-ee?” when one of us has left the room. It’s SUPER cute!

That’s all .

Buh-bye sweet BABY boy…

…Hello sweet toddler *sniffle, sniffle*

-Linds

Eli’s beach themed first birthday party…

Well let me tell you, I was soooo worried about the weather holding out for Eli’s party because it was supposed to be outside for his beach theme of course! Our place isn’t very big and the thought of 40 people crammed in here like sardines bummed me out. With the help of my sister, Aaron and I hustled to get all the party gear out and set up and what did I see to the west? An ominous black sky rolling in . But, God is good. The black clouds came by to say hi, wish Eli a happy birthday, and went on their merry way leaving us a good 10 degrees cooler in the process . We were so sweaty hot just setting stuff up at 11am, but after the clouds came and went, it was so much cooler since it stayed overcast for a little bit (I thought about grabbing a sweater briefly, don’t hit me!). Then when the guests started to arrive at 1pm, the sun was shining again. I’m so thankful we were blessed with awesome whether because places south of us got hit BAD and a lot of people are still without power . Thank you Jesus, muuuah, love you.

So you all saw his birthday “outfit” from my post yesterday. It turned out to be a good call to leave him scantily clad since it was so toasty out. I made the diaper cover using this tutorial from Dana on her blog “Made”. The bow tie, I just wung, and for the hat I found a party hat printable that I traced onto cardstock, mod podged the matching fabric onto it and cut up a craft boa for the trim. Overall a super simple outfit to make.

I hand painted a few beach themed signs just for kicks (and because I wasn’t going to pay for pictures that I would use for one day. I figured for 25 cents each for half a card board, I couldn’t go wrong)

Sorry for the crappy photo. Pictures were the LAST thing on my mind and it didn’t occur to me to take them until after everyone left. The full sign said “warning, no lifeguard on duty” I stuck it behind the crab baby pool below

Pool was just drained but I wanted you guys to see how cute this thing is. It has a shade canopy for my fair skinned child . There was another bigger pool (also already drained in this pic, doh!) which you can see behind it, flipped over.

My aunt Cary took a lot of great pics and uploaded them onto my computer (or so we thought) but apparently it was only on “view” mode and not actually “imported” so I don’t have them at this time. You just get my crappy, oh-I-forgot-to-take-a-pic-of-this-and-must-do-it-now-after-the-fact photos .

Jac and her mom made this super awesome beach cake. I tried to describe what I wanted and didn’t actually give them a pic to go off of and it’s like they hopped into my head and made it EXACTY how I wanted! Gah!! Love, love, loved it. Jac’s mom’s cakes are YUMM-O! See what I mean:

Cake for the adults

I ended up making a sugar free, all natural cake for Eli (even though I’m doing a crappy job not always eating whole foods, I still work hard to make sure he does). I couldn’t really tell if he was into it or not. He of course loved the blueberries I used to decorate it but kind of gave up interest once we got to the center. He did eat it when I offered him bites but wouldn’t dig in himself. Oh well. Grandma enjoyed sneaking bites of her forbidden adult beach cake though. (I’m gonna give you a knuckle sammich!)

Here’s his little “smash” cake:

ha ha, that’s a gummy fish there but he of course wasn’t allowed to eat it. Such a mean mom.

He zoned in on the blueberries (I’m no dummy, that’s why they’re there)

Mom 1 and mom 2.

Couldn’t help ourselves.

Can’t let any of these blueberries go to waste…

I just love this pic of my big guy!

The loot. Was he ever spoiled!

Parker!!!

He got his own water table from his buddy Leslie. Parker let us use his for the party. Thanks buddy!

His yummy new surf board from Parker’s grandma

Nice pic with the grandmas (That’s Parker’s grandma)

Grandpa Don and great Grandparents Ken & Jerri

I decorated little “favor” sand buckets with Eli’s buddies names on them along with little beach designs like an octopus, turtle, fish etc. using rub on decals. But of cooooourse I didn’t take any pictures of the completed product :/ You can see a little bit of them in the “loot” photo in the bottom right hand corner with the balloons attached to them (scroll up 6 photos.) I’m blaming auntie Stephie on the lack of photos because she was in charge of that task and *cough*droppedtheball*cough*.

Overall I felt it was a success and went to bed thoroughly exhausted!

Ok, time for this momma to get to bed. Na night.

-Linds