bathing beauty.

{i love this face!}

beautiful day.

yesterday was a wonderful/exhausting day. sean gave serena a beautiful blessing. i hope that between myself, my mom & my mother in law, we got all of it written down! it was so fun to have family and friends there. this little girl is loved by a lot of people :) here are a few pictures:

serena on her blessing day.

blessing dress, etc.

i'm so glad serena will be blessed in the same dress that my mom and i were both blessed in. and lucky me, none of my sisters were blessed in it so i get to pass it down to serena {right, mom??}! i'm so looking forward to the big day tomorrow :)

the mommies club.

today i realized i'm a member of a secret mommies club that i never knew about.

let me tell you about it.

members of the mommies club smile at each other when passing by in the grocery store with a baby in their arms/stroller/car seat/shopping cart. they stop you to ask you where you got your baby's car seat cover, headband, outfit, or diaper bag... even if you are total strangers. if a member has a baby older than yours, they offer lots of advice {some good and very helpful, some unwanted}. members of the club know what an ordeal childbirth is, and offer lots of sympathy... along with lots and lots of details about their own experiences. members of the mommies club want to know all about your baby... birthday, birth weight & length, and most importantly, if your baby is sleeping through the night. all members want this information. they need to know. even if you'll never see them again in your life. members stop to let you cross the crosswalk with your baby. they smile knowingly as you struggle to get your carseat in & out of the car, or when your baby decides to cry the whole time you're in the library. they get it. they've been there.

sound familiar? and to think, all these years i was walking around completely unaware of the secret mommies club. it's a pretty sweet club minus the unwanted advice. i'm so glad i'm a member!

growing.

serena is finally fitting into her 0-3 month clothes... and i'm having way too much fun dressing her! it's exciting and depressing at the same time, though. i can't believe she's already grown out of some of her clothes! she was just born!! even though i don't want her to get bigger, i'm so excited for all the new things to come. yesterday we got the first social smiles out of her during a game of "where's serena? there she is!". i just about died. she is sooooooo cute. {seriously... i have the cutest baby ever. i know lots of moms think they do, but i'm pretty sure that i really REALLY do!}

{recognize the dress stephanie? we love the hand-me-downs!}

{get used to the rug, gina. i like it. :)}

happy fathers day.

to a wonderful husband and father. thank you for everything you do for us. we love you.

♥ ariel & serena

dear morgan.

look how rock+roll i look in the romper you gave me!

xoxo

serena

help!

*crisis averted. she found a bridal store that was still open and bought one. whew! thanks, anyway corey!!!*

needed: a full slip to go under a wedding dress... ASAP!

my dear sister heather has her bridals tomorrow and being twitterpated as she is, she totally spaced renting/buying/borrowing a full slip to go under her dress. all bridal stores are already closed. her bridals are tomorrow morning {saturday} at 8am... so if you have one we could borrow, let me know ASAP!!!! i know this is a long shot considering it's friday night. probably no one will read this in time, but i thought i'd do my sisterly duty and try to help poor heather :)

i'll be checking back often, so comment if you have one. leave your phone number! i won't post any comments that include personal info.

btw heather is 5'7"ish and i think she's a dress size 4

finished.

the green turned out a little yellower than planned, but i love it. here's the cost breakdown:

mirror & frame, free
green paint & clear finishing coat, $8
chalkboard paint, $12
chalk, $1

fyi {in case anyone wants to make one} if you want to paint directly on the mirror, you'll need to prime it with a paint that will stick to glass. i was too lazy for that and too cheap to go buy another board and have it cut to size... so i flipped the mirror around and painted the back. now it can be a mirror OR chalkboard. click here for some helpful instructions.

today.

holding my baby.
procrastinating doing the laundry.
holding my baby.
waiting for paint to dry on my chalkboard project.
holding my baby.
watching whale wars.
holding my baby.
blogging...
and typing one-handed while i hold my baby.
enjoying the rain and freak hail storm.
holding my baby.

everyone tells me to hold my baby as much as i can while she'll still let me. so today that's what i'm doing.

project.

this neglected mirror is becoming a lovely chalkboard today. get excited for the after picture.

cbs and letterman.

{by sean}

This past week I became very offended over the comments that David Letterman said on his show. I am not one to write letters or to even blog about my opinion but for some reason this really struck a cord with me. I believe it has to do with the fact that I am now a father and feel all the love in the world for my daughter. I was disgusted by the joke he said about Sarah Palin's daughter. It made me think if somebody said that kind of joke about my daughter and the anger I would feel. For the first time in my life I wrote an email to CBS demanding that Letterman be fired. Yes the same CBS which fired Don Imus over the racial comments he made about Rutgers University female basketball team. I did not agree with Mr. Imus’s comments either, but the big difference was that Imus was on satellite radio. Letterman is on National TV where hundreds of thousands people watch him. How is it that Letterman can get away with such a comment? I heard his apology (which he was able to make another joke out of) and it just made me more angry! I know CBS would never fire Letterman but I felt it was my duty as a father and a concerned American citizen to voice my opinion on this matter. Statutory rape should never be joked about! I will no longer watch Letterman in my home!!!

perfection.

perfection=

going for a long drive at sunset with my little family to help calm a fussy serena. listening to some tunes & holding hands with my hubby.

eating ice cream and watching the sound of music.

sweet serena sleeping like a champ for a few nights in a row {knock on wood}. she possibly gets that bassinet+lights out=sleepytime.

sad face.

{this face means: "mom, stop with the camera already!"}

show off.

today serena and i ventured north to go to lunch with aunt lindsay. is everyone as shocked and amazed as i am that lindsay is the proudest, most niece-obsessed aunt ever? who knew. anyway, after lunch we went to her office to do some showing off. lindsay, being the obsessive aunt that she is, had told all of her coworkers about her adorably perfect {her words, not mine!} niece. serena did not dissapoint. she put on her very best chubby-cheeked, pursed-lipped sleepy face and all the ladies went gaga over her. i love being her mama. and i'm so glad we got to go to lunch with linds {who, by the way, just got an adorable haircut}.

also....

food court musical.

this video is the best! the janitor is my fave.

i ♥ big purses.

because when i go to the movies i can sneak in anything i want... along with all of the other junk that is regularly in my purse. {i promise some of the food was for sean!}

p.s. we loved up! so adorable + so hilarious.

serena likes the swing.

{see how happy it makes her?}

the gloves come off.

because i miss these sweet little hands! serena has been constantly wearing those little mittens so she doesn't scratch herself. but today i decided that i don't get to see enough of her dimply little hands. it's been worth a few scratches to have her grab onto my shirt or necklace while i'm holding her. so sweet! i'm so in love with this girl! {even when she's on day six of no pooping and is fussing constantly.}

{photo by jen}

september 15.

we're a little excited. sean pretty much only reads dan brown, and i'm a fan too. so you know what we'll be doing on september 15th!

i just love rainy days.
they make me want to
stay inside.
take a hot shower.
cuddle up.
read a book.
have tomato soup & grilled cheese for lunch.
stare out the window.
and maybe go for a rainy drive.

i hope i get to all of these things today. especially the shower part. why is it so hard to get showered & ready for the day with a baby around?

a new and clueless mom's request for advice.

dear friends,

you may remember that i swore my baby would sleep in the nursery from day 1. no bassinets for us. well i was out of my mind and i don't know how i would have survived without one. that being said, i am curious about how long you kept your baby in a bassinet in your room. i am already feeling like i should get her used to sleeping in her crib {which she NEVER does... not even for naps in the day}. but the thought of having her in the other room makes me panic. not because i'm worried about her. i'm worried about me and the prospect of getting even less sleep if i'm back & forth between rooms all night. also, she's gotten into the bad habit of refusing to go back to sleep after her middle of the night feeding unless i'm holding her or she's on the bed next to me. she flips when i put her back in the bassinet and is totally fine the second i pick her up. even if i let her fall asleep in my arms, the second i put her in the bassinet, she's wide awake and mad at her mama. if she was in the nursery i maybe would just let her cry, but when she's in our room i hate to have her waking sean up. anyway, i'm sure this is nothing new to you moms, but your thoughts would be appreciated!

thanks in advance.

xo

i ♥ the nursery.

and for once i'm not talking about serena's nursery! i'm talking about j&j. for my bday my mom gave me a pot and today we went to the nursery to pick out some flowers to plant in it.

we ended up deciding to take the pot back and buy a planter that was already planted :). you know, cut out the dirty work! they were all so pretty, i had a hard time choosing one.

this is the one i chose. and now the fun part: trying to keep it alive.

have you been to j&j? they have a huge section of really cool home decor stuff that i didn't get a chance to wander around in. i'm going to have to make my way back there soon.

mommy blogging.

i just need to let everyone in on our celebration today. after 4 rough days of no pooping... she finally did it! hooooooray! who knew one day i would be jumping for joy over a messy diaper? serena is much happier now, which means mom & dad are much happier now. i wish i had put her in her lucky pooping outfit sooner! {literally every time she has had a blowout she's been wearing this outfit.}