Thursday, March 31, 2011

Momma In Focus Friday

ooops, forgot to add the prompt for next week's link up. Thanks for reminding me Hanna!

Next week's prompt is: YELLOW (yellow) - interpret this however you please:-) I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Here we are again! It's Friday and another chance to share the pictures you have captured this week of you enjoying some special moments with your kiddos. This week's prompt word was: outdoors/outside but, as I mentioned before, if the weather wasn't favorable where you live please link up with whatever you captured this week! The prompts are only suggestions. The main thing is that you get in a picture each week with your little ones. You won't regret it!!

You can ask my friends and my family; I am always talking about how I don't want to miss anything with Daisy. I want to soak up every little bit of my parenting adventure with her. She is only going to be small for such a short time. Though she wants to be held all the time and it is exhausting, there will be a day when I cannot carry her around in my arms anymore and I will long for those days again. Today in TJ Max Daisy was tired and she snuggled her head into the crook of my shoulder and started humming her sleepy hum. I completely melted with warm momma fuzzies as she never does this and I think every women in the line was leaning their head to the side and staring with that look in their eye at Daisy..the look that says, "cherish this momma...hold her close because it goes so fast!" She wants to be with me all the time and LOVES when I sit down and play with her. She is quite content to entertain herself if she can peak out of the corner of her eye and see that I am next to her, cheering her on. I ADORE that feeling as a momma. The feeling that my little girl thinks so highly of me...another thing that will also pass in her adolescent years! I just want her to know that I love her. That SHE means the world to me. So, these little lakeside moments (pictured below) with the sun on our faces and the breeze whistling through our hair, are priceless!!! This is what life is all about!

Now, grab the button and link up below. I look forward to seeing your special memories for this week!!
One Day At A Time


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Her First Year In Reflection

March 31st 2011
Daisy is 1 year old today!


What a year this has a been! Being that Daisy is my first child not only are her firsts a first for her, they are a first for me and there is something incredibly magical about that! I have absolutely LOVED being a momma. It has stretched me in ways that I never could have imagined and I know this is only the beginning. I never knew I could love a little person so much. I wish I could protect her from ever getting hurt in any way. I want to give her everything but, then again I want her to learn to appreciate things and not take things for granted. As I type this Daisy is hanging on my leg and crying meme (momma) for me to pick her up. These are tiring moments but, as I look down at my daughter clinging to my leg I often see a picture of my Heavenly Father and how I often cling to His leg. "Pick me up Lord, this is too hard. Pick me up Lord I am tired, weary, overwhelmed, angry, hurt, happy, thankful. Pick me up Lord because all I want is to be near you!" The Lord doesn't brush me away and rush off to do something for Himself. He doesn't yell at me or ignore me. He is ALWAYS there for me even when I certainly deserve a scolding. He is Love. He is faithful. So, I look down at the child God has entrusted into my care and I take a deep breath in and out and say, "Be patient. Be loving. Be to her what the Lord is too you for she is a gift and this time with her is fleeting. Learning to care less about messes, how I am dressed as I head out and keeping my personal activities to a minimum isn't always easy but, I will NEVER regret the extra time and love I am investing into my child. I have quickly learned that being a mother is hardly ever easy but, my attitude determines my outlook. I pray that the Lord continues to give me an attitude of joy and contentment so that I can soak it up I don't want to miss a thing!!!
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Has attempted to walk a little everyday but, only a few steps at a time
She is taking the slow and cautious approach to walking evidently
Is a picky eater. Bummer. Spits a lot of things out unless they are sweet!
Takes two naps a day usually about an hour long each
Sleeps through the night 7:30-6:40 (THANK YOU JESUS!!!)
Wants to be held ALL the time
Has 12 teeth (3 are molars) and is miserable
Wears 12 month pants and 18 month shirts
Wears size 4 diapers (finally)
Is still nursed 4 times a day but, this will not continue much longer
Says Meme (for momma), Dah (for dada), Hiiii, Bye bye, num nums (food), uh (uhoh)
Understands a lot more than she can say: where's my belly (she lifts up our shirts and grabs our belly buttons), snack, doggie, I love you, kisses, night night, no, I'm going to get you
She has an awesome "fake" laugh
Does not like me to leave her ever. Separation anxiety will probably be an issue for a while
Drinks out of her sippy cup now but, doesn't know how to tip it and drink
Sleeps with music on always
Loves her pacifier (poppy) and I'm not planning on taking it away any time soon
Loves her blankie and has to rub the satin edge between her fingers
IS obsessed with Daddy
loves to give kisses
Does great on short drives as long as we give her lots of toys to play with
Claps all the time and loves to wave hi and bye bye (Even if she sees a wave on TV...so cute)
Still loves watching Wiggles every morning. It's her favorite.
Is UH-Mazing. Words cannot describe how awesome it is to be Daisy's Momma




Don't forget to come back Friday and link up to Momma in Focus!! This week's prompt word is Outdoors. IF it is cold or rainy where you live feel free to link up with whatever you captured. Prompts are always suggestions but, the main thing is that you try and take a picture with your kiddos each week! That's all that matters. See you Friday!

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Part 2 - Celebrate

Daisy's first birthday is this Thursday so I'm not quite done with my Daisy blog overload for the week.....I will be posting her newborn pictures amongst others and doing a 12 month recap post on Thursday. Family, I know you are jumping up and down with excitement! hehe


Hmmm, I wonder if they would notice if I cracked this open and chugged it??


Grandma LOVES her Daisy and we miss Grandma...who just moved back to CA today!

Joey's Mom and Aunt Kathy were such a HUGE help preparing the food! Thank you so much ladies!!
We have been making a video of Daisy's first year to give to her someday. I made sure to get a little bit of her first birthday party. Daisy was already pooped before her party even started. Look at that face!
I LOVE my little girl SO much!!
Auntie Jess wasn't originally going to be able to make it but, I was SO glad that she did because Daisy LOVES her auntie and auntie took most of these pictures in this post so that I could focus on my little girl and enjoying her day! Thank you so much Jess!
Great Grandma Bailey and Granddad (not pictured...boo) came to celebrate too and spoiled Daisy as usual;0. Daisy is a very lucky little girl to have so many wonderful people in her life!
Our before present opening family picture
I loved this cute picture of Daisy's happy face opening her presents. She got a LOT of adorable clothes and some really awesome toys not to mention some presents in the mail from Lula and Grandpa Hart and Auntie Becca and Great Grandma and Grandpa Martinez!!! Thank you SO much too everyone who blessed our little girl for her first birthday! We appreciate all of you very much!
notice the tissue paper in Daisy's mouth. Paper is really all a kid needs to have a great time! haha...but, seriously though..paper can entertain Daisy for a while!
how stinking cute are these jammies!
Daisy really was SO worn out by the time it was over. Literally as soon as most of our guests went home around 2:30 I laid Daisy down for a nap and she konked out in seconds!
3 of the 4 pack babies were together for Daisy's party. We missed sweet Lila but, she was at a wedding party. This shot was too cute!
A little bit of apprehension at first...
And then she proceeded to eat the cupcake like this pretty much the entire time. She does not like having her hands messy but, I was wondering if she didn't realize she could touch it?? It really was a crack up!!
I was supposed to be just soaking up the moment but, I think I felt lost without some sort of a camera in my hand...screw it, next year I'm taking the pictures, who am I kidding!! hahaha
Daddy got in on the action with our slow cupcake eater and he ate his the same way, face first smashed into the cupcake. Daisy then proceeded to start eating DAddy's cupcake the same way. Very serious and very consistently. Too funny! She even ate some frosting off of Daddy's face!! hahaha
and then only at the very end did Daisy start to touch the cupcake because she could no longer pick it up with her mouth alone.
Daisy Love, your mommy and Daddy just want you to know that they LOVE you so much. You melt us...truly melt our hearts. We love hearing your goofy little laugh, seeing your animated expressions, playing chase with you around the ottoman in the living room, putting you to bed and night and letting you snuggle up on our shoulders, feeding you because it makes you so happy, showing you off in public, talking to you, kissing you a million times a day, giving you baths, teaching you new noises and on and on the list goes. We just adore you so much baby girl!!

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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Daisy's First Birthday Party!! - Part 1 Decorate

I have SO many pictures from Daisy's birthday party this past Saturday. I took a bunch of pictures of all the decorations before everyone arrived and then during the party my hubby and hubby's sister took all the rest for me so I could focus on enjoying the day. I am so thankful that I have all the party pictures that I do but, I was itching to take pictures the entire time to be honest. It was quite a challenge not to pick up my camera and get lost in taking pictures because after all that is what I do! lol. I'm very happy that I could focus on Daisy as she was having a tough day and she did not want to leave my arms. She never has tough days really but, she was sick again due to teething and she got a few boo boos during her party which upset her quite a bit. She was a trooper though and got through the party like the little champ that she is.

It was so wonderful to have the help of our family before the party. They prepared all of the food (my LEAST favorite part of party planning!!) and also helped dust my house and wrap our presents! haha Yup, you gotta love the awesome help of family!

Our neighbors and friends also joined us for the fun celebration. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate Daisy's first year of life and our first year as parents! We survived and loved it!!! Thank you sweet Daisy for bringing us so much joy!

Now on to the party decor. I LOVE following party blogs so I knew I had to at least try to make Daisy's party look cute!! I had a small budget but, was very happy with how it all came together. Pink wrapping paper, tissue poms, white cardboard cutouts and cheap carnations go a long way in sprucing up the feel of a little girl's party! The 99 cent store was another awesome pit stop for party plates, cups, napkins, decorating supplies etc. I would say the food was the biggest expense but, I do want to share that Wal-Mart has the most delicious meat and cheese platter that you order in their deli section. It can feed up to 35 people and it is very affordable!

I am going to share a video tutorial later on about how to make the tissue poms. I know a lot of you probably already know how to make them but, I had a lot of people ask me about them so stay tuned for the video if you are curious:-) Quite simple and so cute!

The theme was simple: pink and white polka dots!






I had intended to make several more tissue poms to hang over the snack table but, the time just flew the morning of the party and it was one of those things that was just not worth getting stressed over. I was okay without them.
Daisy loved getting into the ice in the drink bucket!
So thankful to my mother in law for taking these pictures of us. Love them!

I have fallen in love with the cupcake toppers I have seen on party blogs. These were really easy to make. A little time consuming to cut a bunch of circles but, very worth it. I LOVED how the cupcakes looked with these sitting on top!
I traced the bottom of a large bowl to get these big circles for this banner. My hubby kindly printed these words off for me to tape onto the giant circles and then I turned them into balloons and LOVED how it turned out. So cute and so simple!!

Daisy didn't smile a whole lot at her birthday party which is so unlike her. I knew she must be feeling really lousy if she looked like this all day. Poor little boo boo.
I bought some tulle and decorated her high chair with a tutu. You can never go wrong with balloons. They add a nice party touch and are super easy!
This is the hutch that my hubby and I worked on for almost 2 weeks and boy does it look SOOOO much better now. It is so fresh, white, clean and now the beadboard behind it really perks it up. It was open before and I never cared for it. I will be sharing before and after pictures soon! I realized that for being a photographer I have been horrible about putting my pictures around the house. IT was really fun to finally print them off and see them all over. Loved seeing my sweet Daisy girl all over our house! hehe

These Daisy's were originally supposed to be clipped on to Daisy's high chair but, I liked them on the hutch so much that I left them there. They added a nice bright punch of color!
Our entry was a simple little photo display but, a sweet little touch as people walked in the door. And that's it for the party decorations! Thanks for checking it out! If you have any questions feel free to ask in your comments. I really enjoyed decorating for Daisy's birthday. I spread it out over two weeks so that I wouldn't get stressed out. My motto is this, "If it causes stress, it isn't worth it," and I really do live by that! I decided not to swirl frost my cupcakes and didn't make all the tissue poms I intended to because I was starting to feel rushed on her birthday. I said to myself, this isn't worth it. If I lose it then I have lost sight of what matters today. SO letting some things go is good.


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