note to self.

next time you have family photos taken outside in january and it's below freezing, dress the baby much warmer. poor thing! she will have a cherry nose in all of the pictures.

we gave my parents a gift certificate for family photos for christmas and had them taken this morning. serena had 3 long sleeved shirts under her sweater, but she was still freezing and grumpier by the minute. we hope melissa captured a smile or two!

i've created a monster.

you may remember my new years resolution to make my bed more often. i'm very proud to say that i have made it every day in 2010. this is a big feat for me, friends. i don't think i've made my bed for this many consecutive days in my LIFE. but i'm not so proud of the OCD that has started as a result!

yesterday sean was feeling sick, so he slept in. i took serena to my mom and went to work. sean came to the office in the late morning and the first thing i asked him was "did you make the bed?" not "how are you feeling?" or "did you get some rest?".

terrible, huh! but knowing that my bed was unmade at home kind of put me in an irritable mood. i can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing. it's almost as bad as my OCD about having all of my throw pillows on the couch in perfect order.

{the funny thing is that the rest of my room can be in totally disarray, but the bed must be made!}

words to love.

darling
fancy
sausalito
anaranjado
culs-de-sac
sassafras
ridiculous
sabatoge
alliterative
hot diggity dog
sensational
chicken cacciatore
bolero
sugar britches
clandestinely
correspondence
lovely
sean-paul
serenie beenie
creme fraiche
souvlaki
last name beeswax, first name nunya
couture
buongiorno principessa
aquamarine
rural juror

what words do you love?

three.

1. i sort of love this stowaway giraffe that found its way home from the cabin with us. we cleaned up in such a mad dash that i'm pretty sure half of serena's toys ended up in the toy chests up there. and a few random {mostly ugly} toys made it into our diaper bag. i would like to have the noah's ark set that it most likely came from.

2. this household is destined to stay sick forever. serena's antibiotics hurt her tummy and make her have constant diarrhea. she had a small blowout while we were at lunch with my mom today. somehow she didn't get the mess on any of her clothing, but it ended up all over my freshly laundered jeans. the joys of being a mother! poop doesn't even phase me anymore. also, today sean came home from work with the beginnings of a cold. serena & i will have to keep our distance.

3. serena doesn't like sweet old grandmas! on two occasions she has started crying when a little granny at the grocery store starts talking to her. tonight the granny was saying "well aren't you just the prettiest thing! you should enter her into baby beauty contests!" when serena's bottom lip jutted out and she started to cry. i feel so bad when she does that! they are being so sweet! i need to teach her some manners.

supermodels.

i am in love with these magnetic dolls made by mudpuppy. i bought them at hip+humble for serena, but they say age 6+, so they are mine for a few years :) the pirates & mermaids are also to die for! is it ok to buy toys for myself?

grandma & grandpa around the house.

today i was noticing how many items i have displayed in my home that are from my grandma & grandpa. my grandpa was an ameteur artist and i love having some of his paintings on my walls. it's nice to have some decor that actually means something and reminds me of them. {not that my generic ikea canvas art isn't special...} i loved and miss my grandma so much. i think i inherited my love for all things fancy from her. she was a very fancy lady! i'm sure sean loves that i display that fancy pink doll on the mantle :)

eventually i'll finish this project and frame a few of these

to add some more heirlooms to my decor.

hope not sporadically.

have you ever noticed what a sporadic blogger i am? i'll post twice daily for a few days, and then not all for a few, and then once daily for a week, and then only on the food & reading blogs, etc.

just wondering.

i wish i had time to blog every day.

but i love my child more :)

working and doing laundry today.

over and out.

it's time for another happy post.

my daughter is usually extremely easy to read. if she's whining, she is either hungry or tired, and it takes about 2 seconds to deduce which it is. this week that rule does not apply. this week when she's whining, it could be that she's tired, hungry, her tooth hurts, her ear hurts, her bum is sore from the constant diarrhea from the antibiotics, she's bored, she is sick of having her nose wiped, etc. {as i type she is whining in her bed. she is so tired but too cranky to let it go and give in to sleep!} and now she has passed on the cold to me, which makes two miserable girls at our house :) so anyway, it's time for another post full of gratitude and happiness to get me out of the "wo is me" state of mind i've been in.

happiness this week:

renting movies from the library {moonstruck, the pajama game, mr holland's opus}. library movies are the best. they always have all of the oldies + goodies.

ham and cheesy potatoes at my parents house tonight. and a chocolate dessert. my mom is a wonderful cook.

ice cream with sprinkles and a movie with friends. the movie was extremely creepy and had a terrible ending, but it's the friends that make it fun, anyway. {no country for old men}

community. may i just say again how hilarious this show is!? i was laughing so hard when brita was tap dancing!

spending time with my friends. we don't get together nearly often enough. good thing we all keep in touch through the blogosphere :)

{and she's asleep. her sweet dad just rocked her to sleep. whew! don't think i'm a deadbeat mom, blogging and listening to her cry! she only likes her daddy to rock her.}

the hilarious picture that kirsten sent me today! it's of me holding a butcher's knife and scissors with a frightening look on my face {don't ask}. i opened the email at my parents house and laughed out loud.

heather reminding me of our awesome trip to branson, mo. ohhh, branson.

listening to our recording of the messiah, finally! i am in love with it.

apples + peanut butter. every day this week.

that feels much better. now i'm going to go play lego batman with sean. what better way to relieve stress, right!?

i love these ladies.

this weekend we celebrated jamie and kim's birthdays. i'm so lucky to have the best girlfriends ever! after lunch we went to alicia's to see baby truman's adorable airplane themed nursery. i can't wait to meet him!

{we missed you, tiff!!}

poor poor girl.

add ear infection to the list of things making life so hard for serena {and her parents} this week. she pretty much hasn't cracked a smile all day. she was entertained for a few minutes looking out the window at the snow, but mostly she has whined all day long.

on a side note, when i took serena in to the pediatrician today, they weighed her. my eight month old daughter weighs 21 lbs 3 oz!

cake plates.

i made these cake plates last month {i have yet to use them for cake...}, and have loved them so much! originally i wanted to use vintage floral printed plates, but after shopping around a bit, i decided i liked the idea of plain white better. the pair cost about $25.00. 2 crystal candlestick holders {michael's}, 2 white plates with scalloped edges {tj max}, some super strong glue {michael's}, and voila! custom cake plates just for me, perfect for parties or everyday display ♥

oh my goodness gracious.

i stumbled across a link for this photographer's site on a friend's blog. this post kills me! why didn't my mom sew me a life-size yellow rain coat & hat to match my molly doll's? awesome. what do you say, lindsay? shall we dress up as molly & addy for next year's family christmas card??

speaking of molly, i got her out a couple of weeks ago to show my niece. she got an american girl doll for christmas. {can you believe they are still making them?} i'm pretty sure i scored at least 100 cool points with her when i whipped out my doll. she was all excited and wanted me to read the books to her. sadly i only ever had one book, and it is long lost. but never fear, i found a 5 book set at the book garden for $4.50. now i can pass molly on to serena when she's old enough :)

which was your favorite american girl doll?

thank you.

serena is a very unhappy girl right now. teething + fever + runny faucet nose + watery eyes = a sad, irritated girl. but on a positive note:

thank you steph for the much needed hair cut & color. now i won't have 2 inch re-growth in our family photos.

thank you mom for watching a cranky serena while i worked and got said haircut. and for the nummy guilt-free oatmeal raisin cookies. and for the best ground beef ever! i wish i could make it to macey's more often.

thank you martha for the fun shadow box display idea. this wasn't actually a project in the encyclopedia, just in the background of a display photo. oh and thanks also for giving me some great ideas for baby tru's upcoming shower!

thank you hip & humble for being awesome and adorable. i found darling birthday presents for some friends today. how did i not know you were just up the street?

thank you cafe rio for the thursday special. pork tamales are high on my list of favorite foods. i really didn't feel like making dinner tonight.

thank you baby einstein for distracting serena for a few minutes. i couldn't have done my hair this morning without you.

thank you gretchen for the lovely surprise on my doorstep! {that was you, right?}

thank you husband for cleaning up the broken bottles of baby food that fell out of the back of my car :)

fun with photoshop.

i finally got photoshop {thank you gina!!}.

i forsee endless hours of entertainment.

p.s. serena is getting her first tooth! she hasn't been terribly cranky so far, but she keeps waking up in her sleep tonight and letting out little cries :( poor girl!

need {want} these.

how adorable are these abc blocks? i want them for serena {and for myself!}. check them out here.

p.s. this doesn't count as serena related :)

sweetie potato.

she hated sweet potatoes for a while.

now she likes them.

next re-try: peas. she gags every time we try them.

sorry for all of the mommy blogging. i promise the next post will be non-baby related. unless, of course, she does something outrageously postworthy :)

{i almost didn't post this picture because of the red eye. i tried fixing it several times and it wasn't working out.}

serena goes sledding.

our weekend was so much fun! good friends. good food. lots and lots of laughter. late nights. {no sleep!} and serena went sledding for her very first time. i couldn't really tell if she liked it, but she didn't hate it!

the best part about sledding at the cabin is having someone on a four-wheeler come drag you back to the top of the hill :) i actually wanted to go down more than once!

lately.

i have been eating excessive amounts of cuties, apples & bananas with nutella. i can't stop myself.

my encyclopedia came and i love love it.

i got on my scale and was happily surprised to see that i'm back to my pre-baby weight. then i unhappily realized that my pre-baby weight is not my ideal weight :) still have some work to do. {i need to get on your diet plan, heather. if only i had your self-discipline!}

serena is getting very close to wanting to crawl.

i am finally being hit by the january funk. it wouldn't be so terrible without the nasty inversion. i'm so ready to use the cherry hill pass that santa brought.

i have made my bed every day so far in 2010. go me!

we laughed our faces off at community last night. i think it just may be the funniest show on tv right now.

i read half of a terrible terrible stupid book and then started reading gone with the wind. my purse has been 5 lbs heavier lately :)

we're prepping for a long martin luther king jr day weekend at the cabin. hip! hip! hooray!

happy weekend, everyone!

back in business.

oh how nice it feels to have internet access again.

hello world!

it's lovely to be back.

{have i ever mentioned how beautiful my child is? she has the fairest most beautiful skin. she looked so pretty in my mom's yellow kitchen the other day. i had to snap a shot. she wasn't especially excited about it, though.}

pulling my hair out.

my computer is sick.

i have been without it for 7 whole days. i am so dependent on that dang machine. it's pretty sad how many times a day i think:

"i should google that."
or
"i need to email her."
or
"i'll get that recipe off of the food blog."
or
"i need to check my etsy shop."
or
"i definitely need to blog about this."
or
"i need to upload those photos from my camera."
or
"i'll order that online."
or
"i'll look that up in my email."
or
"i'm bored. i think i'll look at blogs."

and then i kind of want to rip my hair out when i realize i don't have my computer. all blogging & emailing this week has been from my parents house or the office. poor, poor me :)

i just ordered this.

and i'm pretty excited about it. kind of geeky, huh.

p.s. i don't plan to make that seashell lampshade.

eight months.

at eight months, serena:

looooves naptime and bedtime. she is so happy when we lay her down in her crib to sleep.
loves pears, bananas & oatmeal.
hates vegetables & anything with texture!
likes to "sing" and "dance" when music is playing.
still loves mickey mouse.
rolls all over the place.
has no teeth.
doesn't want to crawl.
loves her tummy to be tickled.
has her daddy's hairline.
loves her grandmas! {and i'm not just saying that. she gets so excited to see them!}
likes to pull on hair.
loves sucking on her mom's jewelry.
says mama... hehe ok no she doesn't, but i like to pretened when she's saying "mammamamamamammahahah" that she is talking to me :)
eats 3 meals a day.
wears size 12-18 months clothing.
has learned to blow spit bubbles.
babbles all the time. especially when it's quiet in church.

she cracks us up all the time! she's such a pleasant, content little girl, and so full of funny sounds and faces. we ♥ her to pieces!

{sorry the pictures aren't the best. we didn't have time for a photoshoot this week!}

notte bella.

on saturday we had an italian dinner & date night with my little sisters & their husbands. heather made zuppa toscana that was to DIE for. seriously, i think it was better than the olive garden's.

after dinner we played some wii handbells, which is the funniest game ever! wii music is kind of lame, but the handbell choir is hilarious. thanks for the lovely night, sisters!