11 Months Old

One second Daisy was sitting and looking out the window and the next she toppled over, (very gently, I promise!) and then just laid like this, looking at me as if to say, "mom, I just fell. Aren't you going to freak out and come help me up?" Even her little bow fell off! lol. It was a really cute little moment and don't worry she didn't even cry. lol.

I adore this picture below. I know her arms look a little weird if you stare at them too long but, it was so sweet to watch her sitting there like a little girl and then she started playing with her hair! Love those chunky arms and those perfect little piggie toes!

Daisy's 11 Month News

*Can say: mama, num nums, bye, hi, dada and uh (for uh oh). She does not say anything on cue though. She only says things when she wants to.

*Understands what I mean when I say, doggie, bath time, let's go bye bye, let's go see dada, want a snack, say hi, dance, night night, blankie, poppie (pacifier), I love you, kisses and toys

*Wants to be held 24/7 but, does not like sitting still while being held. She likes to walk around. My arms are dying! I'm going to buy a back carrier for her off of Craigslist soon!

*Nurses 4 times a day and eats fruit or eggs and toast for breakfast, lunch is whatever I am eating and dinner is usually her baby food veggies because she hates eating chunks of veggies by hand and I want to make sure she eats vegetables. I foresee food challenges ahead. She eats just about anything and everything now.

*Drinks water out of her sippy cup but hasn't 100% mastered how to drink on her own all the time (occasionally she gets it)

*Takes 2 naps a day now. They are usually only 45 minutes or an hour long each. I cannot tell you how much I wish she napped longer but, maybe it will happen in time.

*DRUM ROLL........(Ttttttaaaatttttdddaaatt) Daisy has been sleeping through the night for the past 3 weeks in a row now!!!! I want to clarify that she does still wake up several times a night but, she generally just makes a little noise and falls right back to sleep with our without her pacifier now. I still keep like 5-10 pacifiers in her crib and she now can find them on her own at night. Thank you Jesus!!! This has been a DRAMATIC life change for me. It took me 2 weeks just to feel good getting a full nights sleep because my body didn't even know how to appreciate the extra hours. Now I devour my full night and am SO thankful for it. No crazy CIO. It just started happening all on it's own but, it took 10 months!! Yeehaw!!

*Has gotten very brave about her standing without holding anything and has come very close to taking a step or two on her own!!

*Does NOT like to be away from me or Joey. She cries pretty much the entire time we are in church and she is in the nursery. If we go on a date she cries while we are gone. I look forward to when she enjoys hanging out with other people in our absence! It just makes things harder on all of us but, it's normal for this phase.

*Enjoys a 10 minute bath but, generally wants to stand up and hold the spout the entire time.

*Wears size 12 months clothes but, is very, very close to outgrowing them!

*Wears size 3 Pampers Cruisers diapers but, is also VERY close to outgrowing these as well.

*Claps, dances, is uber ticklish, laughs a little bit more often (still not as much as I'd like), loves to cuddle when she is sleepy, LOVES to eat ALL the time, can play by herself in our living room with her toys for about 30 minutes as long as she can see me nearby.

*Is such a sweetheart. Seriously, Daisy glows, radiates and shines every where we go. She is a doll and an absolute joy to parent. I am loving this phase because she engages more and understands so much. It's a blast!!

Happy Happy 11 months Daisy Love!!

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Daisy's 11 month news
(Being that Daisy's birthday is March 31st it is tricky deciding when to actually celebrate her monthly dates. I could celebrate each month on the last day of the month which is what I am doing tonight or I could keep going into the next month until it has been 31 days but, then that month is too short. lol. It's an interesting dilemma)

This Is The Day

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118.24

Today was about as close to a perfect day as one can get. The weather was out of this world UH-MAZING. Since the little one is still getting over her cold we stayed home from church so we wouldn't infect the other kiddos in nursery...yah, I'm nice I know. We hate missing church because we love getting our souls fed with a good sermon and praising God with our church family but, we also enjoy watching Francis Chan (our favorite online Pastor) whenever we have to stay home. We put Daisy down for her nap and I had a random idea to plug the laptop in outside so we could watch the sermon on the back patio all cozied up in the morning sunshine. The hubs also thought it was a great idea. I cannot emphasize to you how UH-MAZING (I like this word), it was to listen to such a powerful sermon by Francis Chan, while sitting in 65 degree sunshine with a slight breeze, listening to the birds chirp, watching my doggie snuggle up on the furniture with us and taking in all of God's creation. It was indescribable joy to sit there with my hubby. The message rocked our world today and I think you too would be really blessed by it. click here to watch and then click on the sermon "Making Sense of your Life" taught by Francis Chan. Powerful stuff people!! We had about 10 minutes left of the message when Daisy woke up so I went and brought her out and she sat with us for a while eating cheerios, chewing on the computer mouse and playing with the container of monitor wipes. She could not have been happier to wake up and join us in the sunshine. She was all giggles and squeals;0. I'll be honest, we really couldn't watch the sermon after Daisy woke up but, fortunately we still enjoyed our time together as a family. I added a little video at the end just to show how cute miss Daisy was.

Thank goodness for point and shoot cameras for easy pictures when you don't want to make a big to do about something!

Just like comparing my new Canon 60D on the left to my older Canon Rebel XT. Look how much bigger it is and the viewer is so much nicer. Ahhhh, Love it!

The hubby worked hard and painted our last white bedroom all by himself. The color turned out great and now all I need is lots of money to go crazy and decorate it...money tree anyone??

Coming Home

Daisy and I happened to be enjoying a nice warm afternoon outside just as the hubs was coming home from work. Joey's truck has a loud exhaust that even Daisy has begun to recognize. I really enjoyed capturing her happiness and reaction when she saw Daddy's truck driving up and immediately took off and crawled to him as fast as her little legs would carry her. Then she got a little bashful when he got closer but, she gave him a nice welcome home kiss. She is such a sweetie pie and you can tell that she clearly has her Daddy wrapped around her finger!

We are still sick over here. I'm actually getting through it a little faster than Daisy which makes me feel bad because I got it after her. I would definitely say this has been her worst cold to date. She is such a trooper though. She tries to chug through the snotty nose and cough as best she can. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers! Hopefully this season of sickness will clear up for us soon.

The hubs and I have been keeping busy with lots of projects. He took our last unpainted bedroom from blah white to beautiful blue/gray and now I want to decorate the heck out of it! We also refinished a beat up hutch that I had purchased off of Craigslist a year or so ago. It was so rustic, old and beat up looking. We painted a nice bright white coat of paint, put new knobs and hinges on it and added a beadboard backing to the hutch that was previously open. I'm SO happy with how it turned out!! I will share the finished product soon!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends!

One of Those Weeks

This little monkey is still sick and now, so am I. Boo.

When babies are sick it can make the clingy, fussy and whining thing all the more overwhelming. Daisy is very sick with the flu and as always happens...now I have the flu too! I think today is day four for her with no end in sight. I started getting sick two days ago and now, feeling as awful as I do, I have even more compassion for my poor little sick baby but, the problem is that I don't have the energy or joy to tend to her like I would if I was feeling like my usual self. The other bummer is that Daisy (who is already the world's most horrible sleeper...she hates sleeping), sleeps even less when she is sick. She only took one 45 minute nap all day yesterday and the day before that was the same. That is crazy for a 10 month old!! Now she is in the habit of crying endlessly when I lay her down for a nap because she doesn't want to sleep at all. Yah, it's one of those weeks. I try to tune out the whining and the crying and carry on and I hold her until my back feels raw but, my oh my....we were just sick 3 weeks ago! sheesh.

I'm not dying so don't worry. Just documenting a tough week. I will be printing the last year of my blog for Daisy's first birthday very soon...so now she will know she wore me out sometimes too! hahah

Project 31 - Day 20 and Day 21

Another day, another outfit. We had an unusually warm week last week. I was able to wear this comfy/cute spring-ish outfit. It was so nice to get out of my Uggs and sweaters for a change!
Top - TJ Max
Jewelry - Rue 21 (awesome cheap store!)
Pants - JC Penny
flip flops - Old Navy

Daisy loves to pull all of the shoes off of our shoe wracks while I am getting dressed. It becomes a race to see who can get done first...me getting dressed first or her, destroying my closet. A little known factoid about me and my closet...I have my shirts organized by color. It makes it easier to find something and faster to get dressed. Do any of you color organize your clothes? I know some of you will find that weird but, I find it theraputic! lol

Day 20 - Write about your job and why you love it or hate it

When I think back on all of the "jobs" I have held one unfortunate fact is that I didn't enjoy very many of them. I was grateful that I was employed and grateful that I was earning money but, I never felt like I found my "dream job." I worked in retail, held various office assistant positions, was a hostess, director assistant of an after school daycare program and finally what I hoped was my dream job of working at a book publishing company. I had dreams of someday being involved in publishing a new Christian magazine for teens or getting a book published. Instead I found myself working in sales and account management for 7 years. It wasn't bad and in fact it was my favorite job up to that point but still, it never gave me that, "this is it," feeling.

Then I began my new life as a stay at home mom. I wasn't sure what to think of my new role at first. I quickly learned that for me, this SAHM role is not a job, it is a lifestyle and it is a gift. I am not getting paid for my time but, my investment is priceless. I don't have to punch in but, then again I don't ever punch out. This is me. This is my life and I have learned that it is a joy. I wake up with a prayer in my heart and greet the day knowing that I have finally found the, "this is it." So, to answer the question for the day, Yes, I can finally say, I love my "job!"

Day 21 - Write a letter to your husband to encourage him

Hi babe. I find it a bit ironic that my challenge for today is to encourage you because I know you could really use it right now. You have been going through quite a lot lately with various health issues. It's been a long road and the end is not yet in sight. I can only imagine how discouraging this season of your life must be at times. You have tried so hard to get yourself better and to keep chugging through your daily routine even when it is hard to do so. I guess, sometimes, things just take longer than we would like to go away. I want to thank you for continuing to help me as best you can. Thank you for giving me some baby free time, for doing chores for me, for painting our house all by yourself and doing such a great job, for being so easy when it comes to dinners, for grocery shopping with me, for supporting my dreams, for encouraging me to get contacts and celebrating with me when I finally got them in after hours and hours of frustration, for being man enough to let me give you advice and counsel, for praying with me every night before we go to bed, for the extra hugs and kisses and for being a guy with a sensitive heart that I so love and adore. This isn't an easy season for either of us but, one thing I can promise you, "I got your back baby!"

I love you so much babe. You are an amazing husband and everything we go through only makes us stronger. Hold tight to the promises in the word, "if God is for us, who can be against us," and "in all these things we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus who loved us!" He will see us through!

I love you. I love you. I love you.

quick side note: I made sure my hubby read this before I posted it. I wanted to make sure he was okay with what I was writing since family and bloggers all read this and get concerned etc. and in fact this little note blessed him very much and he gave me the green light to share. Please keep Joey in your prayers if you think of him. Thanks!

First Park Day

My friend Lindsay and her little girl Lila (four pack) met us at the park on Valentine's Day. Of course I got lost driving there because that is just what I do...not fun but, eventually I found them and we had a great time! It was Daisy's first official day at the park! Daisy warmed up to the swing really fast. She liked being pushed gently and she held on really well. It didn't take long for her to start acting silly and giving me lots of smiles.

wee, this is so much fun mommy!

How adorable is Lila's owl hat! I want to get something like this for Daisy next winter...maybe a monkey hat!

Then we moved over to the sandbox that had nice soft sand. Daisy has never played in sand before and she loved it as you can tell by the pictures that follow. She also loves hanging out with her baby friends. It's so cute to watch babies interact. They don't quite get how to "play" but, they like touching each others faces and staring at each other. It cracks me up!

Daisy's smiley personality is so much fun. Her lively expressions never get old!

LOOOVVVEE this sweet smile and look at all those teeth Daisy has!

I love when Daisy smiles really big she also points her toes. Gotta love it!

My friend Lindsay getting the girls excited

Remember, I'm working on getting in the pictures more....so here I am. yeah!

I had a lot of fun at the park with Daisy and even hung around for a while after Lindsay and Lila had to get going so we could soak up the fun a little longer. Daisy loved the feel of the sand between her fingers and she especially loved being pushed in the swing. Doncha love her I love Daddy t- shirt for Valentine's Day. That was her gift to Daddy.

As I type my little kiddo is fighting a nap because she is sick. I'm not sure if this cold is being brought on by even more teething or if she is just sick. It's a bad cold. Tons of snot and tons of sneezing. I feel so bad for Daisy when she is sick because she wants her pacifier for comfort but, she can't breath so she fights sleep even more than normal and is SO fussy. Long day and night ahead of us I'm sure. Pray this clears up fast!

Little Changes

I got these curtains on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond. Can we all say hip hip hooray for a great deal! I planned on using them in my living room but, they didn't work out in there. I love them in our dining room though which was a pleasant surprise! I must add that that this picture does not do them justice! I'm all about hanging curtains high and wide so I was very happy that these curtains came in 95 inch panels. The next steps in the dream dining makeover...hardwood floors and a new dining set! hehe

Thank you Jesus that my hubby is handy and good with measurements. I would hyperventilate if I had to hang my own curtains! It's shameful how much I dislike that part of home improvement projects.

I know all of our family loves to see Daisy's cute face in every blog post so since I am sleepy and running low on time here are some of the little bean to hold you over;-). Daisy does not like getting her diaper changed anymore because it requires me to lay her down and that frustrates the heck out of her. Sitting up on the changing table is just fine though...as long as I let her empty the entire contents of her diaper basket to play with;0. lol She is all about emptying things lately..bags, purses, buckets, baskets. The bigger the mess the better! haha

I don't know if you have noticed but, Daisy's hair has really started to grow a lot lately!

I'm tired tonight! We just spent a nice evening in our home with some great friends who we haven't seen in a while. It was so nice to catch up, laugh, play video games and also have some serious conversations and a great time of prayer together. There is something really amazing about friendships that are comfortable enough and wise enough to take time out to talk to the Lord. That's why we appreciate these folks so much!

The weather has been gorgeous here in NC this past week! It's been averaging around 60 plus degrees everyday. The hubs and I took advantage of the sunshine and warmth by cleaning our cars, hanging curtains in our dining room which has been curtainless for 3 years (!!!) and also sanding and repainting our dining room hutch. It is so nice to be making small little changes for the better in our home without spending a lot of money. It always makes me happy to make my home more homey!

We found out today that our Pastor is resigning, but on good terms. He feels called into other forms of ministries so we are very happy for him. It is going to be an adjustment and yet another change in our lives but, we know God has a plan in this and we trust Him! We are excited to see what is next in all of this!

Well, blog land, it's off to sleepy land for me. Night!

Mommy and Me

You gotta love our matching double chins! Very sexy! hehe

I am determined to get into more pictures with my kiddo even if I have to suck it up and do it when I have no makeup on, haven't gotten dressed yet and don't even have matching jammies on! This is a challenge I am putting on myself after I reflected on the past year and saw how few pictures I was in with Daisy. Do you get in your pictures with your kids enough? Challenge yourselves to get that hubby of yours to take a picture of you hanging out with the munchkins at least once a week! I don't think any of us will regret it!

I couldn't get over how silly Daisy was being with me when we were taking these pictures right before her bath. She is such a smiley baby and such a mommy's girl these days. Love my Daisy bean!