{7 months}

Please, someone tell me that time will slow down soon!!

Our sweet girl is 7 months already!

Bailey is quite the mover and shaker these days!

She is constantly crawling around the house, using her pant legs and socks to dust the wood floors for me. She often gets frustrated when she can't move fast enough to keep up with us when we leave the room.

As often as possible, she pulls herself up to standing on anything she can (in her crib, on our legs, the coffee table, in the bathtub).

She has just started sleeping through the night {woo hoo!}

I hope I'm not jinxing it!!

She used to have two two hour naps consistently each day, but that's changed. Sometimes she has a few twenty minute naps while other times she will sleep for four hours straight.

Some of her favorite things:

Swinging in her outdoor swing

Swimming

Eating

Standing up

Picking out her outfit for the day.

{She cracks us up. If you hold up two outfits for her and ask which one she wants to wear, she will get really excited and grab one and pull it to her chest.}

Her family.

{She gets really happy when we are together, hears us on the phone or is able to facetime/skype with family}

This girl sure takes my heart with her, wherever she goes!

Happy Sunday

Sorry Friends, my computer died a few days ago {fortunately I was able to get a new one and have my data transferred over last night, but I have no idea how to use it}.

It'll take me a few days (only a few days, I hope!) to get the hang of it and hopefully the blog will be back to normal next week!

Have a great week!!

On acting like an adult

Do you ever have those moments where your feelings are, unintentionally, hurt by someone you love? Not by something they did, but by something they didn't do?

Chris joined his Mom's bowling team so that he can spend more time with her {and our brother-in-law who is also on the team} and one night a week we spend a few hours at the bowling alley. The noisy, crowded, chaotic bowling alley.

This week, we were at the alley and Chris went to the bar to get some drinks for people. When he got back and set the drinks on the table, I looked at him questioningly and asked "Where's mine?" Chris rolled his eyes and said something like "I forgot about you. What do you want me to go get you?"

Ouch.

He forgot about me???

Of course, my response was "NOTHING." and then I set my mouth in a hard line and looked away from him.

For the rest of the evening, I was very short with him and let my hurt feelings fester, even when he asked me again what he could get me to drink, {Not very mature of me!} and on the way home, he was quick to ask me if I wanted to talk about it.

At that point, I had a decision to make. I could ruin the great day that we had been having together and hold my feeling inside and possibly have a repeat in the future. Or I could be an adult and explain my feelings and why I was hurt.

For a moment, I actually thought about holding everything in and staying mad at him, but then I quickly realized that our relationship is based on trust, honesty, and respect {among other things} and it would be dumb to stay mad at him. 

I explained my feelings honestly and I was able to get past my hurt. (and Chris was able to explain that his eye roll was in frustration at himself, not at me). We were able to move on and enjoy the rest of our evening together.

I am so thankful that God gave me a wonderful man that can make me realize when I'm acting childish {and coaxes me out of it in a mature way}.

Why is being an adult so hard sometimes??

Our little fishy

Last week Bailey started swimming lessons!

The {indoor} pool is less than a mile from our house, so we walk over and enjoy the fresh air on our way.

I knew Bailey would have fun since she loves splashing in her baths, but I was surprised at how much she enjoyed being in the water. As soon as we walked onto the pool deck the first time, her eyes were glued to the water (as you can see in the picture with Chris).



Daddy and Nana came to watch us swim!



The big picture above was at the end of our first lesson. She LOVED it!



My Mom was able to take some video of us during our second lesson. The instructor told us Bailey is a natural, here are some videos so you can see for yourself! 

I'm continually amazed at how fast this girl is growing. It is fun, exhausting, enjoyable, frustrating, and amazing when she learns new things and watching her experience life brings more joy to mine.



Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday friends!

I hope this week will bring you lots of beauty to enjoy!

 


 The spectacular sunsets we have been having lately never fail to put a smile on my face and make me thankful that I was able to enjoy another day. Looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing the rainbow-hued sky made me pause and enjoy the beauty.
In the picture on the right, I was driving to work and wished I had a real camera {not just my iPhone} so that I could stop and get some artsy pictures of the beautiful orange sky.

Here's to another wonderful week filled with moments of happiness!
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Healthier

As Bailey is growing and becoming more aware of her surroundings we are doing our best to show her how to be a good person, have fun, explore, obey rules, and have patience {among other things}. One area that we are working on as a family is being healthier. She is now eating solid foods and we realize, now more than ever, that we need to set the best example of good food habits.

We have been making a big effort to plan our meals, eat more veggies, and be more aware of what we are putting into our bodies. For Christmas my parents gave us this cookbook and we have been using it to cook from.

I like to use THIS {from lifeinyellow.com} to plan out our dinners (we usually have leftovers for lunch). I put it on the fridge and it's really nice being able to see what is planned for the week, instead of trying to figure it out at the last minute. I usually go through the cookbook to make my dinner list, make my shopping list and fill my club card with ecoupons (vons.com) and only go to the market once a week.

So far here are the recipes I've we've made {we've actually liked all of them}:

Chicken With Mushroom Sauce

We added steamed carrots and baked potato

Savory pork roast (my first roast!) with special cauliflower

This was my favorite recipe so far, I ate the leftovers for a few days after!
The cauliflower has a great sauce that I will use as a dip for other veggies.

Three-meat spaghetti sauce

I didn't like this as much as other sauces, it probably would have been better without the pepperoni.

Fortunately, most of these are easy to make and all have lots of flavor. On the list this week: BBQ ranch salad,  Hamburger noodle casserole with bbq potato wedges, Italian chicken and penne, Slow cooked sweet & sour pork, and Easy chicken and dumplings.

I really enjoy these recipes because they are lighter versions of comfort food, so we don't feel that we are missing out or having to eat bland, boring diet food. Sometimes simple changes are easy to make and it makes me happy that we are setting good examples for Bailey.

Do you have any favorite new recipes?

Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday friends!

I hope that this week brings you lots of unexpected moments of happiness!

I went to Michael's the other day to get some picture frames and I couldn't help browsing their Christmas items that were on sale.

I saw this set of three pre-lit Christmas trees and reached out to put it into my cart.

I pulled my hand back once I saw the price.

{$79.99}

After I walked down the aisle, something in me said to go back and grab one because I could always put it back if I didn't like the price once at the register. 

I watched as my items were rung up and I was shocked when I saw the price come up on the screen:

$15.99

Holy Cow!

I ran back to grab another one while the people in line watched me to see where I got them. That for sure made me happy!

Here's to a week of good deals!

Link up and tell us what's making you happy this week.

5 minute pinterest project

I've been making an effort to bring my pinterest projects to life, so they're not just stuck on my pin boards forever. Last night, I made one and it literally took five minutes.

 

Here is an easy way to keep those plastic shopping bags organized.

 

Step 1:

Gather items:

~ Empty Lysol hand wipe container

~ Scrapbook paper

~ Scissors

~ Tape

 

Step 2:

Peel the label off

 

Step 3:

Use the label as a template to cut out a piece of scrapbook paper to wrap the container and tape it into place.

{Next time I will make mine a bit wider so that it covers the entire bottle}

 

Step 4:

Fill with plastic bags

 

I'm so glad that my bags aren't taking over our cupboard under the sink anymore!

Thanks Pinterest! 

 

Happy Sunday!

Welcome to the return of Happy Sunday!

I started this in 2011 as a way to remember to enjoy what I have and to remind myself to be thankful. I got myself bogged down with trying to take pictures each week and stopped last February. I've decided to start it up again with just one thing per week and make it a link party (you can do your own blog post and link back {click the add your link button} or leave a comment).

  Even when I'm having a rough day, I still have so much that makes me happy. Go ahead and link up, share what is making you happy today!

This is the {in}famous Bubblegum alley in my hometown of San Luis Obispo.

I have stuck many a wad of gum to the walls, trying to make shapes while keeping my fingers from touching the existing abc gum.

This picture reminds me to enjoy the funky parts of life and always brings a smile to my face. Yes, they may be a little gross, but you can sure find some unique views and make some lasting memories.

Now it's your turn! Go ahead and link up and share what is making you happy today.

{either click the add your link button or add a comment}

Happy Sunday!

The end of our year

We had an eventful end of 2012! We had to split up our Christmas celebrations because:

 1. I had to work Christmas day

 2. Chris' parents are divorced so we celebrated with his Dad on Christmas eve

3. My parents came down the weekend after Christmas to celebrate.

So we had about four mini Christmases this year!

Christmas eve:

Chris' Dad got the cousins (and himself) matching beanies. They're the character Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba {we don't let Bailey watch tv so that's who Chris' sister tells us it is}

That night we walked around a neighborhood in town that sets up beautiful decorations. Bailey really enjoyed looking at the lights. I used the smilebox app on my phone to turn them into Rudolph. 

While I was at work, Chris and Bailey enjoyed Christmas day at his Mom's house. {sorry, no pics}

Dec. 30th (12:45 am)

Chris calls me at work to let me know that he needs to take Bailey to the ER because she had stridor. Such a scary phone call to get! Fortunately we only live 5 minutes from home so I sped home and met them as Chris was getting Bailey in the car.

*I am so glad that Chris was home, being a paramedic he knew just what to do!*

It turns out that Bailey had croup and after a few hours (and a shot of steroids) in the ER she was better and we were able to go home. We had her sleep in her swing for a few nights because it kept her head raised which helped her breathing and after a few days her fever broke. {Croup gets worse at night}

**on a side note, we bought her a warm mist humidifier but the Dr said that she needed a cool mist one and the moist cool air seemed to help her congestion**

Mom and Dad came down later that morning so we could celebrate Christmas with them and it was so calming having them there (Mom's a nurse and Dad was a firefighter/EMT).

Bailey was able to help open some of her gifts, she loved ripping the paper off. Chris enjoyed his silly straw drinking glasses, Santa brought my Dad some sumo thumb wrestlers, and Bailey LOVES her new swing!

Despite Bailey's scary morning, it was a wonderful Christmas.

We have been so blessed this year and are looking forward to what 2013 brings us!

**Stay tuned for Happy Sunday to return!*

My first mod podge

Hello, my name is Mallory and I admit it, I've tried Mod podge and I might be addicted!

I like creating homemade gifts, but haven't had much time at home to be creative.

Since coming back to work, I've had time to get my creative juices flowing and I can finally share with you a gift I made for Chris' sister (since we gave it to her for Christmas).

**No pictures of the process, just the end result**

Here is what you will need:

Letters, paint, brushes, Mod Podge

I started out with some paper mache letters (spelling out my SIL's last name) from paper source and painted them a dark grey.

Then I printed out pictures of their family of three.

First I printed out the pictures in wallet size, but they were too hard to work with and didn't create the look I was going for, so then I printed them out in the contact sheet size and it was perfect.


When you print a picture from your computer, this box comes up, and then choose contact sheet prints.

 Then came the tedious job of cutting out the pictures. I had over 100 pictures to cut out (the number of pictures needed obviously depends on the length of the name/word you're using).

Then I played around with the pictures, positioning and re-positioning them on the letters until I found the set up I liked.

Then...Mod podge!
I just brushed a thin layer on top of the letter, then put the pictures on, and put the letters picture side down while they dried (I put them onto waxed paper) to keep the pictures from curling up.
After they dried, I added another layer of mod podge and they were done!

I am so happy with the result!

I have been coming up with lots of different versions:

FAITH  with favorite bible verses

LOVE with our vows

FAMILY with pictures/words/descriptions of favorite things

The ideas are endless!

I really enjoyed putting this together and see many more of these in my future!

(If you'd like one or have suggestions for others, let me know!)