Munchkin 10-11 months

Side note: I DID, in fact, finish my wreath & I promise, promise to post it this weekend...I went to take the final pics, then my camera battery died, so I had to charge it. Then I had to wait for daylight to take it, then I had to go do something for my sorority sisters & so here we are today! Today is the final final day of the FY, so my life should go completely back to normal after today...and I am going to be hard at work DIY'ing & blogging about all of my Halloween/fall/Munchkin birthday party crafting!

And now, back to the regularly scheduled blog post...

Cue tears... I simply cannot believe my daughter is 11 months! She's actually 11.5 months, so she'll be a whole year old in a couple weeks. I can't believe it. It's bittersweet of course - I'm so happy my little munchkin is doing well & healthy & thriving, but I want to push the pause button. In just 2 weeks (exactly 2 weeks from today), my baby will be a {gulp} toddler. Sigh. Where has the time gone? I think about it sometimes & get a little choked up. Makes me want another little squishy babe, but def no time soon...I need a raise & a bigger house & for our c/c debt to be paid off before that happens - looking at 2013 - and that's if I can get the hubbs fully on-board. I think he'll agree after Amaya is a little older & a little more independent.

And now, what you've all been waiting on..hehehe...Amaya's 10-11 month pics:

And the 0-9 month pics for comparison:

{10 month outtakes}

{11 month outtakes}

 {with her "dog dog" <3}

Look at my little lady! She's growing so big & she's so much fun now! A couple weeks ago, my husband took her to the Dr because she had a persistent cold & she was - in his words - "17 something pounds"...hahaha, thanks babe for the accurate number! I'm guessing she's close to 18 lbs now, but that's unofficial. She will go to her 12 month well baby appointment in a few weeks & I'll know the "official" number. So, she's still on the small side of normal for her age, but she's looong. She is still in 6-12 months (or 12 months) for most clothing, but she has moved on to 12-18 months in a lot of the brands that run smaller (Old Navy, Circo {Target}, Osh Kosh) because of her length. The bag of clothes she can no longer fit or are out of season is quickly getting filled up. I'm getting slightly worried because we are going on our first family vaca to Disney World in early November & I'm hoping that all of her 12 month summer stuff still fits because I am not planning on buying any new summer clothes. Or I'm hoping that it'll be slightly cool there, so I can just use some of her lightweight fall clothing. We shall see I guess!

She's been doing excellent at night - sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours straight, less when she's about to get sick or teething. And she does 1-2 naps a day, normally anywhere from 1-4 hours per day. The 1 hour nap thing only happens when she's at daycare. Needless to say, she goes to sleep super early on those nights! We stick pretty closely to the bedtime routine every night & actually tomorrow we are going to something for our Alma Mater's alumni weekend, which will mean a bit of a later bedtime for the munchkin, so I'm a little anxious to see how it'll go. She's a pretty go with the flow little girl though, so I have a feeling everything will be just fine. I just always get nervous anytime something goes off schedule for her.

As for food, she eats EVERYTHING. She loves food. She makes a horrible mess, but she does eat a good bit! I normally give her a little bit of anything we happen to be eating. And she's pretty much off of purees. I do have a few frozen cubes in the freezer that I feed her from time to time for dinner, but for the most part she's having steamed veggies - very soft & cut up small & bananas + regular applesauce for fruit mainly. I am going to also start giving her the cut up fruit you can get at the grocery store in the cups - the kind without any sugary syrup added. She also has cut up fruit at daycare & they say she does well with it.

Speaking of daycare...I think being around all the kiddos has been really great for her. Seems like she's doing & learning new things every day! The one thing I really dislike is that she's literally sick like every 2-3 weeks - I think some of her stuffiness can be attributed to teething, but I think a lot of it has to do with germs at daycare...ugh. I have read though that kids that go to daycare at an early age are less likely to get sick as often as kids that did not go to daycare early on when they get older. Here's hoping I guess! Her favorite word by far is "dog dog", but she also loves "duck" & "da da". Unfortunately, she doesn't say "ma ma" much unless she's sleepy, hurt or mad at me, lol. She still scoots around - not much crawling, but she can do it, I think she just discovered that scooting is a much more efficient way of getting around! She likes pulling herself up on our ottoman in the living room & she'll stand without us right there for several minutes at a time. She loves anything that plays music - she likes to "dance", which generally consists of her bopping her head back & forth, lol. It's so cute. Oh & she now has 5 teeth - 3 on the bottom, 2 up top! I hate teething because I can tell it hurts/irritates her so much, poor baby.

I think that's it! I can't believe that in just 2 weeks I'll be able to say I have a 1 year old, a toddler. I am happy & sad at the same time, but either way can't wait to celebrate her birthday with friends & family...and speaking of, I have lots of DIY crafting to get to, so I'll sign off here tonight & be back in the next day or so with the deets on our party/fall/Halloween wreath! 'Till next time!

Sneak peak of my DIY fall wreath!

Hallelujah the fiscal year is over (at least for my office's part - our actual FY ends September 30th) & I survived another year! Im actually on the train headed home now as I type this. Now hopefully my life can return to normal! I'm excited too because fall is upon us - my fave season, not to mention my munchkin's birthday party, which I'm super excited about!!

And in celebration of the fall, tonight/tomorrow I'm gonna finish up my DIY fall wreath! I'm so excited, I think it's going to turn out pretty cute! Here's a little sneak peak:



Get excited. ;) Pics & tutorial coming this weekend, woot! 'Till next time!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What I wanna buy Wednesday - 09.21.11

Hi there everyone! I am deep in the trenches of the end of the Government fiscal year, sigh. I.am.so.ex.hausted. I hate this time of year, I end up working sooo much & I totally need a break in a big way. I'm thinking about taking all day on Monday off, taking A to daycare & going back to sleep until I catch up on all the sleep I've missed lately. I am soo happy that Friday is almost here (the true end of the FY is next Friday, but we have to finish all of our contract awards this year so that finance can obligate everything by next Friday)! But as soon as this cray cray is over, I'll be hard at work trying to get everything together for the munchkin's 1st birthday party!

Anywho, just thought I'd check in this week with another installment of WIWBW, woo! Online browsing & some buying is all that kept me slighlty sane this week. Is it sad that shopping makes me happy?! Not in a crazy, blow all my money sort of way, but in a fun way, hahaha. Anywho, here's what I want this Wednesday:

1. A personalized Halloween tub:

{photo credit}

I've been eyeing these tubs on Etsy for a while now - even had them pinned on my Fall Holidays pinboard on my Pinterest. Our previous Halloween candy bowl is a cheapo dollar store plastic bowl & it's fine, but I think it's time for an upgrade! So I finally bought one today on Etsy & I plan to use it for the big birthday par-tay & for Halloween! I can't wait to get it & see how it turns out!!

2. C&B Vine Pumpkins & Gourds:

{photo credit}

Gah I love the fall & decorating & everything fall! These are another thing I've been eying for a while & so this week, I decided to go ahead & buy a couple to decorate this fall! They'll be a perfect accent during the munchkin's little pumpkin themed birthday party! And on top of that, Crate & Barrel has them for an incredibly affordable price!

3. A Baby AJ puppy costume:

{photo credit}

Amaya loves her some "dog dog" as she so eloquently puts it. Seriously, it's the first thing she says in the morning when she wakes up! So I always call our dog up the stairs or in from the other room so she can see her dog dog first thing...then she lights up & giggles. Amazing how great of a mood he can put her in, lol. And sometimes, when she's playing on the floor, he'll come up & give her a little kiss & she just laughs & laughs! Anywho, so dog dog & duck are two of her favorite words - she knows what they are at first sight, so I decided to let her be a dog for Halloween this year. I didn't want to spend a fortune on her costume though & this one is super affordable! I love the little paws. :) And of course, since she's a girl dog dog, I'll be tying a cute bow around one {or both} of her floppy ears! 

4. These beautiful PB news text pillar candles:

{photo credit}

I peeped these cuties in Pottery Barn's fall catalog & I fell in love! They are just awesome. I think I might attempt to DIY them at some point soon & it that is a fail, well...I may just be spending {gulp} $30 on a candle. You think the hubbs will approve that purchase?!

5. Cheetah print flats:

{photo credit}

I hear animal print is all the rage this fall & it's one trend I'm happy to follow! I feel like these flats are so versatile - you could dress them up or down & they'd look fab! These are another item that have been on my Pinterest for awhile now - once I find a pair at a great price, I'll grab 'em. I generally have a rule for myself against buying full price anything. ::wink::

So that's what I wanna buy this Wednesday, how about you?! I'll be back soon with munchkin's 10-11 month updates, more deets on her party & of course, more to come on my office space makeover soon. 'Till next time!

Project Office/Craft Space Makeover: my {kinda} new desk!

Hi everyone! Oh my gah...I know I've been MIA, but as I mentioned this is the busiest time of year at my job, so I'm always swamped at work, working overtime, coming home to take care of the munchkin & then exhausted, so I tend to pass out on the couch pretty early. I'm tired right now - ugh, but I need to get this post up since I've been telling myself I would do it over the last few days. I CANNOT wait till this fiscal year comes to a close & I can breathe a little. Anyways, I want to say sorry again for leaving y'all hanging..hang in there with me, would ya? After September 30th, I'm back in full effect - promise! And & I'll have TONS of Fall DIY projects to share since the munchkin's birthday is pumpkin themed & I'm doing most of the decor! Plus I have munchkin's 10-11 month updates & more WIWBW!!

So today I want to share my first B-I-G project for my office/craft space makeover...my desk! Here she is today in all her painted, distressed, new hardware mixed with old hardware glory:

 
Sorry for the crappy lighting - it was in the evening in the basement, so umm, yeah - the lighting sucked! But what do you think? I lurve the way it turned out....remember what it looked like before?

It was actually in decent condition overall, just needed a face lift - now it looks fab!

And here's how I did it... I started out by removing all the drawer pulls, filling the top three drawer pull holes in with wood filler, then sanding her up real good by hand. I sanded just enough that the finish was scuffed up & ready to take on the paint:

I wiped the sanding dust off with a damp cloth to prep it for painting. And speaking of paint, I used Antique White Glidden paint from Walmart, which is sort of a creamy white with a slight antique'y {I know, not a word} tint to it. I used the interior, semi gloss 2-in-1 paint + primer so that I didn't have to do a separate primer coat. I also used a small foam roller & a brush to get in all the cracks & crevices. I think I did about 2-3 coats & the whole painting project - from setup to cleanup - took me about 3 hours. But I'm a little neurotic when I paint, I have to make sure every inch of the piece, wall, whatever looks uniform, so it might take a non-neurotic normal person a little bit less time to paint.

Then, I let the paint dry about 2 days - 24 hours probably would have been sufficient, but I didn't get to it in exactly 24 hours, so my desk had 48 hours to dry completely. ::wink:: After that, I started distressing with both  fine and  rough sanding blocks. I found that the fine one took for.ever to get the parts distressed to my liking, so I started with the rough & softened/finished with the fine block. I basically just distressed in the normal places you'd expect on worn in pieces - corners, near the bottoms, along the edges, on the drawer corners. Then I put the old antique brass hardware on the bottom six drawers & put my awesome birdie knobs on the top three. Love the knobs?! I bought 'em from Etsy seller RiRi Creations - Rita's super nice, the knobs are totally cute & affordable & they shipped fast!

Oh & I finished up the project by adding contact paper that I had left over from covering the bottom of the master bath vanity cabinets. It's nice & neutral, so it works perfectly in the drawers - sorry forgot to snap a pic. So that's it! Definitely wasn't as hard, expensive or time consuming as I thought it would be...I probably spent about maybe $50 total on this project, including the cost of the desk & knobs! Awesome. And I love how it turned out - exactly what I was looking for, woo!

Wanna see my office/craft space progress from the beginning?! Check out the sad before - more to come soon :) Hope you enjoyed this installment of Project Makeover. 'Till next time!

Party Planning: Munchkin's 1st birthday deets!

Oh hai everyone ::waves::! I survived this week - passed my class (woo!) & got a Master's Certificate in Government Contracting! Sounds official right, lol?! I actually have an actual Master's Degree in Public Administration, but got this as well since I had already taken the courses I needed to get one (had to for work) & it's another thing to add to my resume! I also got some real work done too, but boy was it an exhausting week. Amaya started getting sick (congested, snotty, etc.) too, so that added to the exhaustion - not to mention she finally managed to get me sick too. :( Yesterday I felt like I got run over by a truck, but today I'm feeling a little better...not 100%, but better.

Side Note - notice the slightly different (& larger) post title & sidebar fonts? I had to change them because of some change to my previous designer's font hosting abilities. I'm actually saving now for a re-design...not that I don't love seeing my awesome family up there in the header, but I want one that I don't have to update {read: pay someone or beg one of my web-savvy friends to update} & I'd also like sub-page links up top for stuff like a house tour, baby stuff, popular posts/projects, etc. One day...but for now, this is the "new" look. I'm hoping my good friend who re-installed my fonts will also change my header photos for me too! Shout out to our in-the-know IT friend who handled the situation for me...thanks O!!! :oD

Anywho, today I want to share some of the deets on the plans for munchkin's 1st birthday party! I recently got addicted to started using Pinterest to "pin" (kinda like bookmarking, only WAAAY cooler) my ideas for all sorts of stuff {check out the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button on the right hand sidebar, if you have an account - follow me! --->} & I lurve it. I think I've been on it for just about or a little over a month & I have well over 400 pins & 21 pin boards! Well of course I had to do a pin board for my Baby AJ's 1st birthday & I've been {& am still} gathering up all my ideas to make her birthday perfect! Hey, I know she won't remember it, but I will & so will our family & I just want to make it so much fun for everyone, hehe. Anyway, after much going back & forth, I decided on a little pumpkin/jack-o-lantern theme for her party since her birthday is only 2 weeks before Halloween & I think it's going to turn out totally adorable!

I'm trying to save as much money as possible by shopping around for the stuff I plan to buy/have bought, getting as many things as possible handmade by Etsy sellers (besides the fact that most Etsy sellers stuff is FANTASTIC quality because each item is made just for you), DIY'ing a lot of the decor, making all the food ourselves (minus the cake) & using deal sites (ie, Groupon). Most of the stuff I ordered on Etsy was customized in some way, which brings me to yet another reason I L-O-V-E Etsy, the sellers are so nice, professional & easy to work with! And I have already gotten several things taken care of & ordered, like the invites:

{designed by Lily Pad Boutique on Etsy}

Didn't they turn out absolutely adorable?! LOVE them - they are on order for printing now & I should receive them sometime next week. I plan to mail them out a little more than 4 weeks prior. I actually got kind of emotional ordering my baby's 1st birthday invite. :(

And I got some totally adorable favor tags, stickers, cupcake & a banner. Here's a sneak peak at what the favor tags will look like:

{designed by Ciao Bambino on Etsy}

I'll receive everything a week before the party, so short of the favor tags, I haven't seen everything, but I know it will all be adorable! Can't wait to get the package!!

I've also ordered her entire to-die-for outfit & I already received part of it:

{sorry for the photo quality - took this on my iPhone}

::dies:: I seriously just love everything! The diaper cover & matching bow headband {it has black fedora feathers on it!!} are by To Be Stitched and the leg warmers are by Amy's Buttons & Bows - both on Etsy. I got the rest of her outfit {just got an email tonight that it shipped, woooo!} - a tutu & personalized onesie - custom made by Made Cute Just 4 U on Etsy...here's something similar to what munchkin will be wearing (only hers will be pumpkin themed):

{photo credit}

Gah, have I mentioned I heart heart heaaaaaaaaaaaaaart Etsy?! So that's it, get excited - I'll be posting tutorials & lots of pics for all the projects I (& my good friend Haliya - heeey - who I tricked into volunteered} will be tackling! I'm super duper excited to see it all come together!

And last side note: I'm only slightly excited for fall {sarcasm...I love fall & I'm totally excited, squeeee!!!}, so I picked up a few things for the munchkin's fall wardrobe during Children's Place, Gap & Old Navy's recent sales...just a few things:

{again, sorry for the quality - took this on my phone too...I'm being lazy, lol}

There are multiple layers under the folded stuff that you can't see. What? What is that you say? That's not a few things...argh, guilty! I can't help it! Girl's stuff is just too freakin' adorable. Add in fall girly stuff & I'm done for. In fact, Gap is having a Labor Day sale right now, so I may have to grab a few more things...honey hide the Gap card! Okay okay, I'll get it together...promise, kinda. Okay, I'm lying. I love buying her stuff - more than I like shopping for me now, never thought it would happen, but it did & so she always looks super cute & I look meh. :o/ Gotta get that together too. Anywho, I digress - stay tuned for another edition of my Project Office/Craft Space Makeover series, Baby AJ's TEN month photos + update & lots more! 'Till next time!