valentine's crafting.

one of the things i love the most about valentine's day is getting to craft up some things for my little loves. i mean who doesn't like something with a heart on it or done up in red + pink? 

i stamped some muslin bags and filled the bags with little trinkets for husband. i made a snack mix consisting of valentine's m&m's, peanuts, pretzels, strawberry yogurt cheerios and cranberries. i filled one of the bags with the snack mix, one with conversation hearts, one with a notepad, and another with a picture frame. 

i also made some bookmarks for husband and my parents. the one pictured is obviously for husband. the bookmarks came from hobby lobby. i put them through the typewriter, punched a hole in the top, tied some jute and stamped it with one of my favorite stamps. 

i also filled some small mason jars with sweet tart hearts and jolly rancher hearts then tied with jute and a tag. I like the presentation of gifting candy in a jar rather than just putting it in a bag just to mix things up a bit. 

i had more ideas, but with an almost 5 month old that was as good as i could do this year. i'm enjoying every moment, so when it comes to holding little s or crafting something obviously she wins every time : )

little love: part two.

here are a few more pictures from the valentine's photoshoot. 

Little S had a great first valentine's day. my mother in law (Gigi) came over to watch Sawyer while i tried to get ready for valentine's night. since it was a week night, husband and i decided we would go out on a date saturday so that he could enjoy it more. i did, however, cook dinner thursday and decorate the table. 

a lot of people like to complain about the holiday. i, for one, have always enjoyed valentine's. not because i have always had a valentine, but more because i love the colors, hearts, baking, and making little special things for the people i love. 

my problem is probably trying to do too many things at once to a point where i get myself overwhelmed. i like to make every holiday perfect to a fault, and having a child has probably made this worse. 

overall though, it was another special first for Little S.

little love: part one.

valentine's morning i decided to do a little photoshoot with Little S. i'm in love with how they turned out. just a simple banner i got for a steal at target, my white walls and a couple of baskets. she was a trooper. my secret to get to her to look right at me... put mickey mouse on the iphone and hold it right under the lens. works like a charm. 

part two soon to follow. 

christmas traditions.

me on my 3rd Christmas (i was a december baby) 

as a little girl, my mom has always been big on making traditions. she is a perfectionist as holidays come (which i in return have inherited) and has always strived to make them special. 

a few of our traditions growing up...


1. holiday baking: we would always take a night and bake as many different kinds of cookies that we could fit in. one of our favorites was sugar cookie cut outs. we would always take pride in decorating them as best that we could.
2. christmas eve at my dad's parents: my grandmother would cook lunch, and then we would open gifts. we always got 4 gifts...2 toys and 2 outfits. it was fun as a kid to get a sneak peek of christmas.
3. candle light service at the baptist church: we would dress up in our christmas best and sing our favorite songs. Now as adults we get mad if they don't stick to the tried and true.
4. new pajamas: on christmas eve we would always open christmas pajamas. after we put them on my mom would present us with a new christmas book, and we would read it together under the tree.
5. pallets: on christmas eve we have always all slept on pallets on my parents bedroom floor. i have a child and husband and my brothers still requested that we do this this year.
6. christmas morning: we would come out of my parent's bedroom in order from youngest to oldest to see what Santa left us while Johnny Mathis plays in the background.

now that i have my own child, i look forward to making our own family traditions in the years to come. 

husband's first father's day.

precious decorated root beer bottles my sister-in-law made for all the dads

 gift for wade's dad complete with an old photo from the early 80s

the dad to be and i.

husband's gift and list i made him of the reasons i think he will be a great dad.

this year we got to celebrate husband's first father's day. even though our baby girl has not yet arrived, her daddy loves her so much already and deserved to be celebrated. we went over to wade's parents house for lunch then we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the house and watching knocked up. i made wade a basket of goodies, and typed up some of the reasons i think he is going to make an amazing father. 14 more weeks until i get to see him in action! 

i, unfortunately, did not get to see my dad this father's day. we had considered trying to make it down to the beach, but it was too crazy of weekend for everyone. luckily, i will be seeing him next weekend when we drive to texas for my shower. 

an early father's day post.

i wrote a short blog about my dad today on the work blog. you can check it out here...

easter twenty-twelve.

 

i don't know about you, but we had a wonderful Easter. we went to sunrise service at our church. it was at 6:30 AM (we hit snooze literally for an hour) down by the river. everyone wore sweatshirts and brought blankets and chairs. 

after church we went home to change and cook lunch then brought it over to my mother in laws house. lunch was delicious (as usual). i bought everyone bunny ears for some fun photo opps. 

wade + i gave each other baskets. he told me not to take a picture of them together because i couldn't find a basket to fit his records and mine looks so much smaller. he did, however, buy me a new dress last weekend to wear to our friends wedding coming up in may so technically that was supposed to be in my basket. i decorated bones with tags, stamps and twine for the furry babies. 

how was your Easter?