Thursday, January 26, 2012

My little cupcake!

Amara received a delivery today! Mrs. Marty, one of my besties' mom, sent a "sweet" gift that she knitted herself! I couldn't resist taking pics of her and posting them! They are the cutest little hats, and so perfect for Valentine's Day!!

I just want to eat her up!


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

What I would do with an extra $$

What I would do with an extra....oh say.....$400 bucks.....

I saw these on my friend Leah's hand at a baby shower we recently went to. I spotted it as if it were an engagement ring I hadn't been informed of. She was like "oh yeah, these are my new obsession!" Well, now they are mine too! I love gold, and I love all things mini. Lucky for Leah, her son's name only has 3 letters in it.....Ugh! I may have to just do Amara's initials :)





SweetHEART...

My little handmade heart clip that I made for Amara! I am obsessed with felt hair clips! Isn't it cute on her? A piece of garbage would look cute on her in my opinion... hehe!


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Here goes....

I am not sure WHY I am showing this, BUT I feel like I need some accountability. I recently posted on FB that i need a craft room. Truth be told, I HAVE a craft room....it just looks like one of these winter storms blew through and ransacked it. It is the room in my house that always stays shut off. It has been organized a couple of times ( the best that you you can organize something without shelves or anything), but it ALWAYS manages to get back to looking like it needs disaster relief. I don't file papers right away, I just put them in that room and tell myself I will find them again when I organize it. YEAH RIGHT! I have gift wrapping accessories, things from me and Gabe's childhood, my esthetician table, candle supplies......the list goes on. There is actually probably a little family living in there somewhere. Just kidding. Despite my clutter, I can say it is still a CLEAN room.

I think you are more creative in an inspiring environment. I never stay in that room to do projects ( not that there is an open space even if I wanted to). I always end up dragging stuff out into other parts of my house. Then, I just go back upstairs and chuck the stuff on the ground. If anyone knows me, I am somewhat of a neat freak, so this is an out of character room for me. I guess I need a slop room to help hide my imperfections!

So I give myself ONE MONTH to make a drastic change in this room and turn it into a creative space. It is going to be my girly room! When you look at this picture below, it is okay to judge! I am prepared.



What is the purpose of a closet??? To keep stuff IN?
New concept for me you would think!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

4 MONTHS



     Today, Amara is 4 months old. What can I say? She is growing into such a funny little girl. She is all belly and hair! The smiles are still there, but now we have added our voice to the mix. I think she found it. It doesn't come out all that often, but when it does, it is loud, proud and oh so cute!

     She is definitely a people watcher. She is so alert and aware. She enjoys sleeping on her side. We don't quite have our head control down, but we are about 70% there I think. She can do tummy time and hold it up completely as she smiles because Gabe and I are usually screaming "YAY!!" We have our 4 month doctor's appt. on the 25th of this month, and I can't wait to see how much she weighs. She is definitely feeling heavier and squishier! I LOVE IT!! I pretty much kiss her chunky thighs everyday! Everywhere we go, we get stopped with things like "She looks like a doll!?!" "Look at all of that hair!!!" "She is such a beautiful baby!" and I think to myself.....WE DID THAT!?!? ( well, God did that) We still can't believe how much attention she gets. She is quite the show stopper, and I am not complaining.  I am so proud to carry her on my hip and show her off.

     One of my biggest prayers for Amara is that she grow up to just be a good person! I know it sounds so plain when you say it, but it seems to be harder than we think. I just want her to know who she is and it be GOOD! Obviously, this encompasses a lot of things, and I pray for so much more than this, but I just want her to light up people's lives! :) Ya know.....the same way she does mine!

Here are some other 4 month pics .....


















She is continuously balling her hands up and either looking at them
or stuffing them in her mouth!




















It is amazing how much I walk in and find her laying like this!


At her first basketball game watching Aunt Jordan
Cheer!
P.S. Babe, if you are reading this......( I know I will have to e-mail you the link because you don't read my blog), but I LOVE YOU and we have made it 4 months. You are the best daddy a little girl could possibly ask for! There is no man that will ever love her more!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Our New Year's Eve



Ok, I am late to post this, as usual. As part of Gabe's birthday gift, we went indoor skydiving. It is something he has always wanted to do, and since we were going to be in Pigeon Forge, TN......why not? We had a few friends come along and it was a blast! I have to admit that I was pretty nervous at first ( they make it sound worse in the training class saying things like "you could die") I was EXTREMELY sore the next few days, but nobody else was really. It took a lot of my muscles that I have not used in a long time to keep myself in the position they wanted.

Anyway...totally fun!


Ya know....just sittin.....waiting....















Our 15 year old instructor....not really, but he does look 15!

Our hair afterwards. I know it doesn't look that bad.....well yes,
it DOES look bad in this pic, however, the tangles are unjustified!


Monday, January 9, 2012

Mirror mirror on the wall....

I am obsessed with mirrors. There are always those little things that you gravitate towards in a furniture store, and mine tend to be mirrors, candle holders and vases. My only problem is that I have more of these "little things" than I have furniture, which gives me nowhere to display this stuff.




My favorite mirror at home!





I was at Goodwill recently, and came across this mirror for $3.99. I saw it and immediately thought Robin's Egg blue! I got the spray paint for half off at JoAnn's. A brand new mirror for a whopping $8.





Since I do not have a console table in my entryway to hang this above YET,
it just hangs by my door to the garage. It allows me to give myself a look over before
I go public ;).


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Amazing Apple Pie

I attempted my first apple pie this week, and it turned out to be one of the best apple pies ever!! It was DELISH, and I let both of my BFFs and my husband try it....both of which would be honest with me, and they all loved it. Here is the recipe if you are interested.....


Ingredients:
Pastry for 2 crusts (recipe below)
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs.  (Granny Smith, Cortland, Jonathan) - I didn't use the different types of apples. I used all Gala just because that is what I had.
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon milk
Directions:

1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to apples and toss well to coat.
3. Fill pastry lined 9 inch pie pan with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
4. Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust with a fork or by hand.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and milk. Brush mixture over top crust.
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.