YAHOO!!!

See ya later 2 0 1 2!

You guys, 2012 was my most favorite year yet! I became a wife and a mother this year. We have had ups and downs but thankfully more ups to even count. Financially, we haven't had the greatest year and in fact at times it was down right shitty but it honestly made me stronger and forced me to stay optimistic for my family. I learned to take care of a home and be a wonderful partner to my husband. This year we fell madly in love with our baby boy and became awesome parents together and grew a lot as a team. Miles and I took a ton of trips to visit my family in Southern California and my sister in Las Vegas. We even went to Mexico! After three years, I married my sweet fella on a gorgeous summer day in our backyard where our families celebrated with us. That was such a special day! 2012 is filled with so many cool memories. We welcome 2013 with a few exciting goals and hope that it is as good to us as the last. Thank you so much to our friends and family who have made our year AWESOME!! Cheers!

Hanging with my boy

Some days are crazy busy, in and out of the car running errands sort of days but today was Miles' day. No chores to do, no shopping to be done, just me and my guy hanging around together all day! It was the first sunny day we've had in a while so I wanted to spend the last half of our afternoon at the park. We did but we also just hung around the house laughing, playing and dancing to records. Miles is one cool kid! He is growing and learning a ton right now and I am in total amazement at how big my baby is getting. Miles has always been a really awesome and sweet boy but I think this is my favorite age. He is super funny and cheery and extra lovey to the cats lately. His meltdowns and bad sleeping schedule has started to get back in check and his fascination with his toys and music is increasing. I can totally dig it!

His cool leggings are from our sponsor Studio Bundis. We love them so!

CHRISTMAS!

 So long Christmas, you sure were sweet to us this year! 

Last Christmas we spent the day in the ER with a week old baby with a bad eye infection so this year we were really happy to be home with our healthy boy. Miles had such a fun time opening his gifts, tearing the wrapping paper and playing with his new toys. Every time he opened a present her would say "Ooooh" with excitement! The rest of our day was spent watching Christmas movies, napping and cooking. I'd say we had a pretty terrific holiday! We definitely missed our families out of state but caught up with everyone over the phone and Skype. Hopefully next year we can celebrate with my sister and her family so that all of our kids can be together.

 Grandma and Grandpa spoiled him with really cool, fun gifts. One of the presents they got him was a light-up toy cell phone that he absolutely loves! All morning he walked around the house with the phone up to his ear saying "HHHHHiii" in the sweetest voice imaginable! Aww man, it was the cutest thing EVER!!

 Papa really loved this one!

 Miles got a ton of shoes!

My in-laws surprised me with these awesome Sam Edleman boots that I had been coveting over but couldn't afford. When I opened the box I literally screamed with excitement! These babies are such a treat for me! My sister also sent us an awesome package that we opened a few days before Christmas. She gave Miles the coolest alphabet bocks and nesting element cave along with other neat goodies. She sent Steve and I beautiful new bedding that I had been eying for months too! My mom bought our plane tickets for our trip next month to Southern California which was crazy nice of her and my dad got Miles a new stroller! Also, Miles scored a few Target gifts cards from Steve's sister and our friends which we had no problem spending on fun toys and clothes for him :)We were spoiled and blessed to have such a rich holiday with love and thoughtfulness and we hope that yours was just as fulfilling and special!

Happy Holidays Y'all!

Wishing you the very best day with the folks you love!

Miles and Santa

 Oh, my sweet little doe eyed boy! Papa, babe and I headed downtown last night to visit Santa at Macy's but by the time we got there it was already 8:30 and Miles had fallen asleep from the car ride. We woke him up, braved the cold and walked a few blocks to see our guy. Luckily, because it was so late there was only one family ahead of us so we were able to dodge the hour long lines we had heard about. Miles was a good boy, still a little sleepy but good nonetheless! There was a really cool train set and a small caboose the kiddos could hang in. We then walked around downtown for a bit and saw the big Christmas tree at Pioneer Square. Because Steve works so much we sort of miss out on family outings so this was a special thing we shared together and got to take home a few silly photos of our boy and his new pal.

New Sponsor

 For Miles' first birthday I wanted to document his growth and personality in a fun and unique way. I found our new blog sponsor, Moulage Collection, on Etsy and knew immediately that this was the perfect way to capture who Miles' is at this very moment in time. Steve and I had fun going over everything we wanted to list, laughing about all of Miles' funny quirks and who he got what from (definitely taking after Papa's love for Star Wars and skateboards).  I am so happy that we had this made and it will shortly be framed and hung up in his room as a sweet reminder of his first year. The handwriting and colors are beautiful and the chalkboard effect is awesome and will be definitely be updating his poster for his second birthday. Check out Moulage Collection on Etsy and Facebook.

Miles' first birthday party

 Miles' birthday party was terrific! Unfortunately, a lot of the photos from the party were either blurry or super bright from the flash so I'm sharing the best from our evening. Miles was such a sweet boy the whole day and enjoyed all of the love and gifts from our friends who joined the party.

 Adorable, right!?

  The desserts were amazing and huge thanks to my sweet friend Melanie who baked her buns off the night before for us. I can't bake and that's a fact so she really helped this mama out!

 I followed this really easy tutorial on how to make these woodland animal party bags and they turned out great!

 

 Joanns was my go to for most of the decorations, plus I'm cheap and they always have coupons and sales. The cupcake garland was really easy to make. All I needed was twine, colored cardstock, sticker letters and some baby free time and there you have it, personalized bunting!

Since we were going for a woodland theme I thought it would be cool to incorporate slices of wood to the table. Thanks to my dear ol' husband for being resourceful and cutting up branches we found in our alleyway. For the centerpiece "M" I used moss cloth that I cut to size and hot glued to the cardboard letter.

 Birthday boy!

  He had fallen off his chair right before we sang to him so he was pretty adamant about being held instead of playing with his cake. He did look pretty darn cute wearing his cowboy hat with frosting on his nose though :)

 

 Miles took some good shots at his pinata!

The damn thing was so hard to break that eventually we just had the kids jump on it till they got to the candy.

 Pooped out!!

Greetings!

This is the first year we sent out Christmas cards to our family since last year we were a little preoccupied with a week old baby Miles. I found Ashley Ryan's Etsy shop while looking for customized holiday cards and couldn't be happier with how fast and easy it was to make them. I sent her an idea of the writing I wanted and in a matter of hours she sent over this fun design. A big thank you to Ashley for taking good care of us! You can find her on Pinterest too!

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy first Birthday, sweetheart!

We love you SO very much!

xo

mama and papa

What a day

I made this birthday hat for my boy!

I got these sweet critters at Target and added sparkly party hats to there cute little heads.

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 Yes, it's after midnight and yes, Miles is still up but I don't even mind because after a dark day like today all I want to do is eat him up and hold onto him forever and ever. Our aching hearts and loving thoughts are with the victems of this weeks shootings here in Oregon and in Conneticut...

Easy gifts are the best gifts!

 Hey y'all, I know the countdown to Christmas is speeding up so I wanted to show you a super easy and affordable gift idea for your girlfriends or yourself! I chose to use agate slices and turquoise crosses that I already had but feel free to make yours unique by adding feathers, fabric or beautiful crystals.

 supplies:

metal hair barrettes (I found these at Joanns)

hot glue gun

agate slices (check your local rock store or Etsy)

flat large beads

All you need to do is hot glue your bead or whatever it is that your using to the metal barrette and just like that you have yourself a pretty bitchin' hair accessory!