Mother's Day 2011

My first Mother's Day was last year. Two months Preggo. I threw up one minute before I took this pic! After five months of trying and failing, I was SO excited to finally have a bay-beeee in my belly!!! :)

 

My Mother's Day 2011: a seven month old Khloe, fast asleep in her proud, protective, and completely fulfilled momma's arms.

The hubby surprised me with a six foot palm tree and the absolute SWEETEST cards from he and Khloe. I cried like a baby! I adore that husband and baby of mine. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I was put on this earth to be a wife and Momma to my lovies! {kisses}

Although I would like there to be another date in the year (other than my birthday) that is all about me, Mother's Day is to be shared. Ha! I came up with some cute little crafty projects but couldn't blog about it until Mother's Day was over. {The moms in my life stalk love my blog and facebook, ha!}

I don't know about you, but my Mom and MIL have just about everything. So, instead of just sending the totally expected "I love you / Happy Mother's Day" card, I thought it would be fun to make something special for them. What better way than use baby girl's hands and feet?!

I probably spent two hours googling "mother's day crafts." I found a lot of "big girl" crafts, but not many for babies. I finally gave up and just headed to the Dollar Tree {love} for inspiration.

Here's what I came home with:

I used the back of a Diet Sunkist box to trace one hand and one foot. I couldn't keep Miss Wiggles still enough to individually draw them for each project.

 I flipped and re-traced for the opposite hand/foot.

So much easier when you have a template!

The styrofoam squares were 4 for a dollar and fit perfectly in the cute tin cans.

The store I was at didn't have any popsicle sticks, so I rummaged around the store until I found something that would work. Straws. It made it even easier to cut to different lengths.

Next up, hot glue. {How do people go through life without a hot glue gun?!?! I've been thinking that it's time for me to invest in an upgrade on mine!}

I cut the "stems" and glued to the straws.

The hot mess/crazy baby going on in the living room during this project

Blank ink, cute fonts, and printer paper.

I used scrapbook scissors to dress the label up. (Which, I'm not REAL sure who or where they come from, but I have like 10)

 And here's the finished project:

I thought they turned out real REAL cute.

Mother's Day cards: $3.99

Grandma's "bouquet" from 7mo Khloe: Priceless (or $4.00 a piece if you ask Dollar Tree).


And did I mention I made three corsages for three very special women?!!?

When I tried to order a couple, the florist told me they started at $29.99 a piece. I decided that it just couldn't be THAT hard. I ended up making THREE for $12.00. Apparently, this is the new business venture I need to begin. That's just crazy! :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Momma's Day!! I can't wait to see how much Khloe how grown by this time next year!

xoxo

Happy 7 Months Khloe!

(or seven and a HALF...)

I thought things would slow down just a tad when May rolled around, but of course, it didn't. I know, I know.. I'm two and a half weeks late on this post, but better late than never, right? :)  

Within a two week period, Khloe mastered sitting up, crawling, AND pulling up on anything and everything she can find. She took her very first step last Monday while at my Grandma's. It was so unexpected that there was no time to get it on video. She can stand on her own for about a minute, but her balance is getting better every day.

At her 6 month checkup (at the end of April), she weighed 15.8 lbs. She is in size 3 diapers and still wearing most 3-6 month clothes.

We started her on solids about a month ago and she loves it! So far, her menu consists of: avacodo, asparagus, apples, bannas, butternut squash, carrots, green peas, sweet potatoes, pears, oatmeal, wheat, and mixed grains. Next up: mangoes. I really want Khloe to take after her Daddy when it comes to eating. I’m way too picky when it comes to food and I really hate that about myself.

 Still trying to figure out the sippy cup. The nubby cups with the silicone nipple seems to be the best so far. : )

Another thing she gets from Daddy is her love for sleep. I thought for sure by now that she would not take as many naps, but most days she is still taking 4 naps.  She still puts herself to sleep. Her immediate position upon laying in her bed is thumb to the mouth and eyes closed. It’s too sweet. Bedtime is around 7-7:30 and she sleeps, without waking, until 8-9 am. (Amazing, right!?!)

I think she feels like she is too “grown up” for the exaucer these days. Last month, it was her favorite activity. This month, she throws a royal fit when put inside. She would much rather play with her toys and freely roam the living room. She is very curious and way too confident in her ability to stand. Apparently, she thinks she can just walk around once she gets her self standing. She lets go of whatever she’s holding onto and quickly comes crashing down. Brave little monkey gets right up and does it all over again. At this rate, it’s only going to be another couple weeks before she really starts taking steps.

And so the toys begin. Just a few toys wasn't enough, she had to dump the whole basket out to be satisfied.

Her crib has officially moved to the lowest setting. It’s only a matter of days before she figures out how to stand on the bumper and I have to remove it. Makes me so sad! I LOVE that bumper and Stacy Gwin worked SO hard on it for me. We have to find another use for it!! Suggestions? : )

She has two teeth on the bottom that are SO close to breaking through. You’ve probably noticed in most pictures a wet shirt. She is still a drooler and she still puts everything (including her toes) in her mouth!

I absolutely adore her laugh and giggle. She hasn’t started saying any words yet, but we practice DA-DA, MA-MA, and BEL-LA everyday.

I can’t believe she’s already seven months! Time puh-lease slow down!!

 Now that you have seen the perfect "7 month picture," let's recap on what it took to get to this point. 

"Hmm... that looks like something mommy wouldn't want me to touch..."

"Khloe.... No, no"

"Now, what Mom?"

"Ok, for real, Khloe!" 

"Hey, I'm bored..."

Little monkey!!

Drab 2 FABulous! The Couch!

It was a Sunday afternoon, I hadn't left the house in a week, and I needed a little outing. I left Khloe with her Daddy and headed to the Goodwill.

Before we get started, I'm going to give you a little insight on how my Goodwill trips go. I walk in the door and head straight to the furniture section. If it's crowded, I hustle (I don't want someone to grab something before I do HA). After rounding the last aisle, I head to the knick-knack section (picture frames, lamps, candles, etc). Then, I turn around and go back to the furniture section for a second sweep to make sure I didn't miss anything. Depending on my mood and how much time I have, I'll browse through the rest of the store and just before leaving I check out the furniture section ONE last time. The thing about Goodwill/Thrift stores is that they are constantly putting out "new" stuff.  {I hate when they leave the door open to the "employees only" section where stuff is just piled up and waiting to be sorted. It's like telling a kid they can't have the candy in front of them. WHAT IF something perfect for me is behind those doors? Why tease me? LOL} And, did I mention how I have a habit of browsing passing customers buggys? OBSESSION.

I stood in front of this couch imagining all the possibilities. When I flipped the price tag over, and saw $14.00 my heart skipped a few beats.

 

The cushions for the seat and the backing were missing, but I knew that wouldn't be the hard part. The only thing I was worried about was the front of the arms. That would take some sewing (at the time, my sewing machine was still in the unopened box in the top of my closet). This gave me a great reason to get it down!

I sent a few pictures to my Grandma (who is the QUEEN of reupholstering) and I think she was a little more excited than me. She said the best way to go about recovering the couch, would be to make a slip cover. She was planning on coming down in a couple weeks and said she would help me make it.

During a random trip to Hancock's, I checked out a "Clean Sweep Sale" and nearly died when I found a huge roll of fabric for THREE dollars a yard. While I was there, I thought I would go ahead and pick up a cushion foam. I had my second stroke of the day when I realized they were $44.99. YAH right!

When the hubby told me he was planning on having a dinner party at our house, the wait was over. You know me. There was no way I was having people over with this piece of junk undone in my dining room.  I didn't know how I was gonna do it, but I was determined to make it work. Strep throat or not, I had to get it done by Saturday night. {I know, right!?}

I knew before I even began that my biggest challenge would be the front of the arms.

I pulled out my {handy dandy} ELECTRIC STAPLER (too many Blue's Clues cartoons for this momma). This time, I loaded some brad nails into the stapler and got to work.

I'm starting to get excited...

I know the guy unloading furniture at the Goodwill thought I was crazy when I asked, "Hey, yall wouldn't happen to have any random cushions to couches in the back would you?" After a little persuasion, I convinced him to lower the price of $25.99 to $10 on a {hideous} couch he had just taken off the floor. He thought I was even CRAZIER when I told him I wanted him to ONLY load the cushions into my car.

(I guarantee every single one of you know someone that used to have that exact print on their couch! ICK!)

This is where things get interesting in this story. The Goodwill worker loaded the cushions in my car and I started to drive away. Instead of backing out and turning around, I thought I would just drive along the back of all the buildings and get out on the other side. Not TEN feet in front of me was TWO couches a store put out by their dumpster. "O-EM-GEE!!!" What a waste of my TEN dollars! I jumped out of the car and stole another two cushions and threw them in my trunk.. just in case I needed them for a future project. HA.

Can you imagine my excitement/disbelief when I got home and realized the two Goodwill cushions were not going to be long enough for the couch??! HOLLA!

Once the fabric was removed from the cushions, they were SOAKED with Anti-Bacterial Spray & Allergen Reducer. The next day I hosed them down and sprayed the anti-bacterial AGAIN. You never know where this stuff comes from. Gross.

Once the cushions were all dry (and smelt MUCH better), I cut the rounded ends off and measured for an extra third cushion. (Thanks to my hunny for the knife I stole from his shop :)

Finally starting to feel like I'm making a little progress.

The original plan was I would have one solid cushion. When I couldn't afford the solid foam piece, I thought I would have to settle for having two. After talking to my Grams about it, we decided I could make a tight slip cover and squeeze the three into one.

I used some fabric that I recently stole when I raided my MIL's awesome fabric cabinet! Thanks Teresa!!

Time to sew.

 

After I finished sewing, I started working on the second slip cover (the one you would sit on). In hindsight, I should have saved the tan fabric for the bottom of the cushion, instead I had to use a red fabric which was the only color I had that was long enough.

I made three smaller pillows for the backing, and squeeeeealed when I saw the finished project!

remember the BEFORE!?

 

AFTER:

 

Of course, I had to make some accent pillows! These cost 50 cents a piece. (I'm telling you, I hit the fabric JACKPOT at Hancock's that day!)

 

.....and here is a glimpse of what this dining room looked like once everything was done. OH MY!

 

I have never been more happy to finish a project!

But... I have a confession to make. If you look really close on the ends, you will see push pins holding the fabric to the front of the arms (where the floral print used to be). This is what happens when you take on a project of this size ONE day after learning to use a sewing machine. After five failed attempts, I decided Grams would have to show me how to sew the ends to the sides. It will work for now! :) 

Do you love it or what!? I love comments! :)

April catch up!

It has been a crazy busy month and I have been MIA. Let's play catch up!

Around the first of the month, Khloe began to learn how to sit up. She loved practicing against the bumper in her bed. I just happened to have my phone with me and was able to capture her first attempt.

I loaded Khloe in the car at 4:30 in the morning and headed North to see my family. Up to that point, I had never made a 7 hour trip by myself. Mom offered to meet me in Jackson but after getting everything packed into the car, I knew it would be easier to just keep driving rather than unload and RELOAD all the junk we had. I hoped by leaving so early that Khloe would sleep at least most of the way but was still really nervous about it. Thankfully, she did. The trip was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

My sisters and I had a much needed "sisterssss bonding time" when we took Koko to the Memphis Zoo.

 

(I know- we look nothing alike. Ask my mom why. ha ha ha, love you mom!)

We couldn't stop talking about how much we loved it there and how many changes they have made since the last time we were there (years ago).

She really loved the ride on Auntie KK's shoulders! (The "K" in Khloe's name came from the "K" in Kelli's name.)

This was my first to see the Pandas. The zoo keepers had just cut a pile of Bamboo and set it out for him to eat when we walked up. It was so neat to watch him use his hands and teeth to clean the bamboo sticks. I could have watched him for hours. So neat.

I think the seal exhibit was so neat. On one side you can see the Polar Bears as they swim and the other side the seals. Khloe loved watching them swim by.

 

Nana & Poppa Tullos drove up to see us Khloe :) We had a great time visiting with them!

Gigi bought Khloe a new toy, that she loved, it really helped her learn to balance herself while sitting.

The next day, I found her sitting up all by herself in her playpen.

Khloe loved her time with Nana Rhonda. I would say this was the only bad thing about going home. My little PRINCESS was under the impression that she should be held 24/7 when we got home! :)

Not to forget Auntie Tooty. Khloe smiles SO big when she calls her "Koko Channel" (Khloe's middle name Brooke is from Melanie Brooke -aka- Tooty)

We upgraded to the bath sitter this month. She loves loves loves this thing.

John David had a week of vacation this month. Usually, we try to go home for 3-4 days and spend time with both families. This time, we decided we wanted to stay at home and avoid all the traveling and just have family time. (First time we've done this since .. ever.)

We spent a day at Bellingrath Gardens, a 65 acre Garden Estate. Mr. Bellingrath first purchased the property as a fishing camp. He was quoted saying, "See what your wife can do to a perfectly good fishing camp!" Good job Mrs. Bellingrath. It's gorgeous!

Their rose garden was voted the best in the world a few years ago!

The next day, we all loaded up and drove to New Orleans to visit the Audobon Aquarium.

The Aquarium was awesome! I had heard mixed reviews on it, but I was happily surprised at how nice it was. I read that after Katrina (where they lost most of their 10,000 fish) the facilities have really improved and they continue to add more species to their exhibits.

They even had a sting ray exhibit where you could pet them! (I was a little too scared. Let's not forget the freakish death of Steve Irwin!)

I tried to get her to sit in the clam so we could get a picture, but the little monkey just wanted to stand!

Cheeeese-y! :)

She was so afraid she would miss something that she waited until the very end to finally fall asleep.

Vacation at home is always so nice, but it seems so rushed because we try to spend time with everyone. It was so nice of his parents to come to our house for a couple days and do some sight seeing and do even more damage of spoiling Khloe! :) Khloe is not a big "cuddler." She never has been. So, when she fell asleep Nana Teresa ate up her hard to come by cuddle time! :)

Later that week, we packed the sun block and swimsuits and headed to the Beach! Instead of stopping at Gulf Shores (on Easter weekend) we drove an extra 15 or 20 minutes into Florida and stopped at Perdido Beach. There was no more than a handful of people there and the weather was incredible. We will definitely go back to that particular beach!

Miss Thang wore an itty bitty pink and blue bikini!

She loved her beach time! She played under the umbrella for at least an hour while Mommy & Daddy soaked up the sun.

Then it was time to celebrate Easter! This was our first time to not be home for Easter and we were sad to miss all our families Easter Dinners, so we felt very loved when some friends from Church, Cliff & Shannon, invited us over for an Easter Lunch! 

Khloe wore a bright yellow polka dot dress that Nana Teresa sent her with a big girls' headband.

Doesn't she look like such a big girl!??

This is the smile that melts your heart, and makes life worth living!

And somewhere between all this, she began crawling. Within a week of learning, this is where I found her: underneath the swing, which she thought was just the funniest thing ever. She couldn't stop giggling.

 

And this: pulling up on anything and everything she can get her hands on.

Click the video below to watch her!

Just when I thought the month was going to slow down and I could get some projects done, I got strep throat. Being sick is no fun, but being sick and still having to take care of your baby makes it seem a million times worse. Those are the times that it makes it so painful to live so far away from home. Thankfully, John David had a slow week and was able to come home early a few days and take care of her (and me).

We had our first dinner party at the new house Saturday night. Although, I have a lot of decorating to do, the house is finally starting to feel like "home." It was a very nice feeling to not have to explain "why" about every inch of the house, like we did in that junk house in Jackson. Knowing that this is where Khloe will spend her first five years makes John David and I smile. This is a great house for her and I know she is going to have some really great memories here. It's going to be fun to move the cars out of the carport and give her a box of chalk and let her go crazy. :) 

May, oh May! It may not be as busy as April was, but it's still going to be a crazy month. Starting today. John David started his month long rotation of night shift: 6pm-6am plus 24 hours every Sunday. Needless to say, I hate night shift. Thankfully, this is the last month that he will ever have this rotation. My baby sister is graduating next Saturday! (Can't believe it!!) Which means, this week I have to plan/pack to go home again. Who knew a little trip home could be so much work! Two days after I get home from Memphis is my hubby's bday!! I'm still working on a plan for the big 2-7 celebration. It's on a Tuesday, and he has to be at work at 6pm and he won't wake up until probably 2pm (which is ARONIOUS* hunny), so it will be a brief celebration. I think everyone would agree that you should have a paid day off on their birthday, right?!

June we have Tooty's wedding showers and then July is her ROYAL wedding. August will be my 25th Birthday, and then begin to plan for Khloe's ROYAL birthday party in October. And before you know it, it's time for the Holidays. I'm exhausted. LOL! 

The infamous couch makeover is coming up THIS week. I know you haven't forgotten the BEFORE picture I showed you about a month ago! Get ready for a "Blow your mind" transformation from this piece of junk!!

So, now you can all stop sending me "hate" emails and comments about not updating. I am a busy person. :)- And for those of you stalkers who never miss a post, you better be a "follower"! We're up to 10. You can ask my husband.. Every time my number of followers goes up, I squeeeel! So please, make my day and click to follow me if you already haven't!

Love you guys!