My week in pictures

Hello friends! We have had a wonderful week {even if Chris was sick on our one day off together}.

We have been working on a new night time routine for all of us Bailey. It has been an adjustment, but we have noticed much better attitudes during the day and have cut our bedtime routine down from 2+ hours to about 45 minutes start to finish. Such a blessing all around! Some nights are easier than others, but we're sticking with the plan because it's working!

 

Now for some pictures: 

 

Before Chris was feeling too crummy, he and Bailey made us pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. Bailey added sprinkles to hers, I take mine with mini chocolate chips, and Chris prefers his plain.  

One of our night time changes is that the tv and other electronics go off at 5:30 pm (for everyone). It has forced us to come up with other activities before bedtime and it has been fun being creative together. We set up a small art area in our living room and have been getting a lot of use out of it!

Bailey received a dry erase easel for Christmas and this is her drawing of me. Eventually she added a drawing of Hercules and Rapunzel and her Dada on top. Some marker might have already made it onto the floor, but fortunately baby wipes took it right off of the wood.

 

It was really windy for a few afternoons so we tried to get outside in the mornings before it got too bad. Bailey is becoming more and more adventurous, she made a friend at the park and fearlessly climbed all over the play structures and tried out the monkey bars.

She still loves her dresses, but allows us to dress her in pants now and then. Sometimes we compromise and both get what we want her to wear.

 

She still loves taking baths (for the playtime) and has recently starting loving showers! After our shower, she saw how I wrapped the towel around my hair and wanted hers to be the same.

Her grin makes my heart swell and makes me so thankful to be her Momma!

 

I picked Bailey up from Chris' Mom the other morning and we stopped to feed the ducks. They swarmed her, one of the geese got a bit too close and nipped her finger, but she still loves them.

She tried to touch one of the turtles that live in the pond, but it swam away before she could get too close.

I've been trying to get better at cooking real meals for us and came up with a pretty good one using the ingredients we had on hand.

Chicken with italian seasoning topped with bell peppers and spinach, covered with cheese. I baked it for about 20 minutes before adding the cheese, the baked another 20 minutes. It stayed moist and had good flavor!

I am so thankful for my days off with my family (and also for the days apart to make me appreciate them even more)! I hope that you have a great week and can enjoy some new things with those you love!

What's in my bag?

You know in those celebrity magazines they often have some woman spilling her purse to tell everyone about all of the great products that she always carries {along with that top selling novel and sunscreen and healthy granola bar}, all easily contained in her $1,000 name brand bag?

I thought today I'd show you what I keep in my real, working mom purse! {ok, honestly, I needed to clean out my purse really badly and wanted to see how much junk I keep in there!}

I absolutely love my purse! It's the perfect one because I don't need to carry a diaper bag full of baby essentials (for now), but a diaper and small pouch of wipes can get us through an outing.

I have gotten more compliments on this purse than any other I have ever had. It's from Target, has 6 pockets, an adjustable strap, and the light blue color all drew me in.

 

Now for the goods:

Bailey's Stuff:

A rain jacket {left over from our visit to the zoo yesterday}, one diaper, pack of wipes, sunglasses, diaper coupon, and two snacks. Much pared down from a year ago when I had to tote around a huge diaper bag everywhere... at least I get a few more months reprieve from that!

 

Some snacks for me and Bailey: Gum, smarties, a pop-pop and peppermints to keep us going throughout the day!

My essentials: Coach wallet (Christmas gift from my husband a few years ago), my planner...I would be completely lost without it! Everything goes in my planner and without it to keep our schedules organized, I'd lose my mind! Some notes to ask my Dr. at my next appointment, and my registration for MOPS spring semester.   

I didn't realize I had so many hair ties in here! One for Bailey, a comb, hair clip, and lipstick. I was surprised that I didn't have four or five chapsticks as well.

Random notes/lists: shopping lists, an invitation for a bridal shower, a drawing from Bailey, some preschools we want to check out.

Three photo pass cards from our recent trip to Disneyland, an expired credit card I need to cut up, and a gift card to Target (how have I not spent that yet??)

11 pens and pencils...why???

Two rolls of stamps left over from Christmas cards. Those need to be put in our drawer before they become Bailey stickers!

And the trash...receipts, coupons, candy wrappers, etc.

 

I am surprised at how much this little purse can hold without feeling heavy! The pockets on the sides are the perfect size for a bottle of water or juice and when it's organized, it's easy to find what I need inside.

 

What do you keep in your purse? Share your real bag, I'd love to see!

 

 

Happy Sunday

Happy Sunday friends!

I hope that 2015 is starting out well for you! Here's what's making me happy this week:

 

These two {of course}

We took Bailey to see Disney on Ice in Long Beach and she loved it

{well..she loved it until the villains came out}

We're trying to fit in many fun outings and memories together while we are a family of three and she can be the center of our attention.

Daddy Santa brought Bailey a small fish tank for Christmas and she was very excited to pick out her own fish and Nemo toy for him. Bailey aptly named him "Fishy" and she loves watching and feeding and talking about him.

{Bailey actually took this picture herself, her photography skills taking after her Nana!}

Bailey has been a bit clingy lately and I'm soaking up the quiet moments I have with her.

 

My Parents are the cutest! Mom texted me this picture:

with the comment: Dump Date!

I hope that Chris and I have this much fun together when we're retired and our kids are grown!

 

Chris and I both had to work on New Year's Day and we were missing our girl. She was spending the day with Chris' Mom and she sent us this cute video.

I've watched it at least a dozen times and I just love hearing her sweet voice.

 

This is an exciting year for us full of celebrations with those we love. I hope that you have a great year and that it's starting out with a good week!

Disneyland

As a Christmas gift, Chris' Dad took us all to Disneyland for two days (one day at Disneyland and one day at California Adventure). We had a great time even though it was chilly, fortunately it wasn't as crowded as we expected.

We left home at 6am and hoped that we could get Bailey into her car seat without waking her, but that didn't happen, so we stopped at Starbucks on our way. Bailey was happy to get a big girl drink (warm milk with vanilla). She ended up sleeping for about 45 minutes while we were stuck in traffic.

 

We tried to get Ella and Bailey to put their arms up together, but this was the best we could get.

Cousins!

Bailey (2 years), Ella (3 years), Eden (7 months)

 

Bailey wanted to get a picture with every character possible! We managed to meet many of them!

 

Fortunately, we got word that to see Anna and Elsa you needed a fast pass type of ticket, so on the second day, Chris ran over and scored us tickets as soon as we got into the park.

 

Bailey wore one of her Elsa dresses and when we got into the room with them, she ran up and hugged Anna for a full minute! She was in heaven!

The women playing the princesses were wonderful! Taking a long time with the girls and making them feel special! Ella and Bailey were so excited to meet them!

 

Bailey still wasn't a fan of the Pirate's of the Caribbean, but we did find a few rides that she loved! 

Dumbo, the carousel, little mermaid, the rocket ships, the tea cups, the Ferris wheel, and the roller coaster in toon town were all some of her favorites.  

 

We did go on the haunted mansion, and it stopped while we were on it! Fortunately we were facing the room that was decorated for Christmas and had the ghosts dancing, so we didn't mind. They had it running again a short time later.

 

Bailey and Ella are more like sisters sometimes (fighting and loving just like sisters), but they were happy to be together while waiting for the parade.

 

They had a Feliz Navidad parade at California Adventure and Bailey danced while watching the entire thing, then she was surprised when the dancers asked her to come dance with them, she loved it!  

 

We had a great weekend with family and enjoyed making memories together! I was pooped at the end of it, we walked a lot and didn't sleep much but I'm glad that we could all spend time together for the holidays!