Happy Monday! Today Hallie and I are back to work! Can’t wait to hear about all the fun my little girls had on their vacations! We hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We sure did!

Friday we spent some time with family! Hallie was even lucky enough to get her big cousin Luke to give her a ride in his car:

The S.S. Minnie

It was a terrific time!
Hope everyone has a great week!
<3 Kelly

One of Hallie’s favorite little buddy’s Miss Mira and her family have started a non profit organization, called “The National PHACES Association” in honor of little Mira.  This organization will help educate the medical community on this rare syndrome and provide much needed funds to families with PHACES children who need to travel for treatment and support.  I invite you all to go check it out and make a donation to help families much like our dear friends…plus check out how cute this little girl is! What a great 1st birthday present that would be for her!

Hallie playing with her buddy Mira

little awareness and every little bit will help!

On to Oh hey Friday, pics!

 1.

This kid! So expressive. Onesie/Skirt similar here/Moccasins

2.

She’s Loving the pool! Swimsuit

3.

Playing at Nanas! Dress is a hand me down / Moccasins

4.

Seahorse Tunic and Leggings- Mud Pie Crown Headband- Etsy

5.

That smile!! Red Dress- Dillards Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Hallie and I are back to work full time next week! <3 Kelly

Linking with September Farm

Oh Hallie! This is the update that is the most bittersweet! We have made it to 1 year! Which has brought so much fun and excitement, but at the same time, Mommy is missing that wee little peanut that we brought home from the hospital a year ago.  That tiny girl that slept on my chest all day that was too small for her preemie clothes.  That girl with the thick dark hair and giant blue eyes.  As much as I miss those days, each and every day with you is more fun! You are learning so much and have become quite independent! 

Here is all about you at 1 year old sweet pea:

I was wrong on the height and weight. This was before our appointment. We tried weighing her on Pop’s scale at work! Age- 1  year Weight- We fell off the charts again, we are only 15 lbs and 1.5 oz Length- 29 inches tall!! So tall like her daddy! Size- Mostly 3-6 month clothes. Sometimes 9 month for length.  Size 2 Diapers Eyes- Starting to turn a little green like her daddy’s!  Hair- Light brown and getting long. Almost time for a haircut!  Sleeping- 2 naps a day and 11 hours at night.  Eating- Anything and everything! We just started Whole Milk and are taking it like a champ out of a sippy cup! No more bottles!  Milestones-  Took first steps. We have 1 tooth!  Memorable outings- Lots of birthday parties, photo shoots, and swimming.  We also enjoyed arena football with Pop these last couple months.   Favorite toys/activities-  Stuffed animals (Especially my puppy, giraffe and bunny), Books (especially animal books like Dear Zoo), Pat-a-cake, cars and musical toys! Looking at all the pictures in the house with Daddy Words/sounds- I have lost count of all of the words that she knows! We at least have 20-25.  My favorite ones: Mama, Daddy, Puppy, Stella, Tickle-tickle and Hi! Nicknames- I call her sweet pea, peanut, sweet girl or Hal…Daddy likes to call her Daniel son when I put headbands on her…but other than that sticks to a generic sweetie or cutie! Funny moments- This girl always leaves us cracking up! Today she started waving and screaming “Hiiiii” to a kid on a bike in front of her friend Jude’s house  Looking forward to- The holidays! Should be really fun this year!  We had to do these in 2 sessions because somebody was not very happy! Red Dress- Dillards Seahorse Tunic and Leggings- Mud Pie Crown Headband- Etsy

I have such a treat for you! Courtney is here from A+Life dishing all about her blog today! Check it out!


Who are you? 

I’m Courtney and I blog over at A + Life! I’m a 26 year old mama of two girlies, happily married wife of 8.5 years, former hair stylist, latte addict, and believer.


What do you blog about? Anything and everything! I primarily blog about motherhood, but I also share about our faith, DIY projects, What I Wore, homeschooling, and I chronicled our battle through secondary infertility as well.


When did you start blogging? February of 2012!


Where do you live? Joplin, Missouri.


Why did you decide to blog? I always wanted to blog but I didn’t feel like I had anything exciting enough to write about. Then my first daughter, Abigail, was born and after about a year and a half of failing to keep up with her baby book I finally decided to try my hand at blogging. I fell in love with it and have been writing about her(and now my second daughter, Mabel) ever since!

I was also lucky to have Courtney answer some fun random questions for me! 

Who is your biggest role model? Easy! My biggest role model is my own Mama. She is one of my very best friends, the person I call first about everything, the person I have always emulated, copied, and I can only hope to be half the wife, Mom, and woman that my Mom is.

What is your favorite wardrobe stable? I just recently wrote a post about this! My biggest wardrobe staple would be tank tops. Currently, they are these nursing tanks. But, when I’m not nursing, I usually layer a tank under almost anything I wear. I love these from Target!


Tell us about a favorite childhood memory? When I was a little girl, during the summer my parents would fairly regularly take us to the drive in movie theater. They would play a children’s movie first, then an “adult” movie second. We would pop our own popcorn and put it in a bowl mixed with M&M’s. After the kids movie was over my brother and I would have to lay down and go to sleep in the back of the van while my parents watched the grown up movie.

We have a drive in movie theater here in town and we took Abigail for the very first time last summer. It was SO much fun and I hope it is something we can do every summer as a family!


It’s girls night out. Where are you and your girls headed? Well, we’ve either saved up and waited for a new movie to come out(a Mockingjay girls night this November will definitely be happening!) But, if we aren’t going to see a new favorite movie, then we usually meet up at Chipotle for dinner and then head to Cheddars for cheap drinks. They have my favorite margarita there- a sangria swirl- for $4.50 and it is enormous!

We also do pinterest parties fairly regularly. So much fun!

What is your favorite thing about yourself? Oh goodness! I have no idea. How do you answer this question without sounding like a complete tool? Let’s go with something safeish like, my favorite thing about myself is my type B personality. I don’t get worked up over much and that lets me be a generally happy and laid back person. Eh?

Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest
 Thanks Courtney! <3 Kelly

Hallie and her Memi

Buddy Aiden and some of our playgroup friends!

Hallie and Sadie girl! She LOVES her Sadie

Mira, one of Hallie’s besties!

Hallie and Best Buddy Luna

Of course my kid stole her ball…

Family photo before cake cutting

Of course Hallie just wanted to touch the fire, so Mommy helped blow out the candles!

Waiting impatiently for cake

Digs in, no fork needed

Until she was done…check out all the cake in her hair!

Gift time!

Moccasin obsession…like mother like daughter

Hallie’s new best friend! This dog is  one of her new favorite toys!

Hallie with Memi, Mommy and Daddy

Hallie with Nana, Bapa and Mommy

 She had a great time and we are so blessed to have so many family and friends who helped us celebrate 1 year of our sweet girl!! Thanks to everyone who came out!
<3 Kelly

first birthday party! I knew I wanted a Princess Theme, and I knew that I wanted the color scheme to be lavender, rose and gold. I did not imagine how perfectly things would come together, but that day was absolutely perfect (aside from forgetting to pick up the balloons that is…opps!)

As people arrived, they read Hallie’s story as they walked up to the door.

The “One” Banner from Hallie’s 1 year photos, courtesy of my sweet friend Whitney

Through these doors people put their bags, we just dressed it up with leftover butterflies

The dining room where food was placed. Note the flying butterflies

I also made that tassel banner

Party Hats and Favors

My little Sadie made the sign. I’m not sure if you can see her little signature at the bottom right..so cute!

Dessert Table

Linzer Cookies

Gourmet Popcorn

The Cake

More butterflies leading to the kitchen

Drinks

Paper straws

The highchair and tutu skirt

I brought Hallie’s photo books

And placed 1 year photos out for people to sign

This is the most detailed chalkboard I have ever done and it tells all about Hallie

Hallie’s Godmother made this sweet banner for her

12 months of Hallie frame and the invitation

One of our favorite dollies

And of course all the food

 And last but not least…the outfit

 xoxo
<3 Kelly

Good Morning! Today I am here with Danielle from Sundaes and Spaghetti learning all about her blog! Make sure you head on over to her page today to learn more about her! Also, keep checking back here for more on Hallie and her birthday! 

1. Who?- Who are you? Tell my readers a bit about yourself

I
mainly blog about my life as a mom.  The
struggles (like, why won’t you eat child?!), and the achievements.  I try to keep things real, because let’s face
it, motherhood is hard!  Reading about
others going through similar issues makes it easier.  I also love sewing, crafting and baking, so I
try to blog some about that as well.  Here
are some fun blocks I made for Halloween.

Now
that Annabelle is getting older, I am also trying to throw some educational
ideas into the mix.

I had
to go back and look at my blog, since I had no idea!  It turns out I published my first post June
16, 2013 (Wow!  I didn’t realize I have been blogging for two whole years). 
It is crazy to go back and look at some of my first posts.  Check out one of my first pictures!

I
think I have gotten a ton better at blogging over the course of two years.  I have made tons of fellow blogger friends as
well.  I always wonder if my husband
thinks I’m a crazy person when I talk about what all of you are up to. 😉

4.  Where? –Where do you live?

Hmmmm…. why did I start blogging? 
When Annabelle was first born I went back to work to finish off the
school year (so I worked for about 2 months). 
When summer came, and I was home full time it was a bit difficult.  Part of the reason I started a blog was
because it helped keep me sane.  It was
also nice to document Annabelle’s growth. 

I can’t believe how small she used to be!

Now,
I like to blog to connect with others.  I
also hope my experiences (like when Annabelle had to wear a helmet for brachycephaly
[a.k.a. flat head], you can read about on my blog under Annabelle’s Journey)
can help others going through something similar.

Man, I don’t know!  It would be super
fun to live somewhere tropical, but then we would be so far from family.  Plus, I wouldn’t get to experience all four
season, which I love (although some years winter could be a tad shorter).  I also think living somewhere tropical would
get old.  Honestly I really love
Michigan. 🙂

2. What is your favorite Season?

Hahaha!  As I mentioned above, I
love the seasons!  It’s actually quite
hard for me to choose.  My least favorite
season is Spring, I know that much.  I
guess my favorite season is fall, since I love everything to do with it.  Football, apple picking, cider and doughnuts,
the leaves changing, Halloween.   Love it
all!  The weather is usually great as
well.  I love jeans and a hoodie weather.

Here are some pictures of Annabelle’s first and second trip to the apple
orchard.  It is the same orchard I went
to as a child, so it’s so much fun to go with Annabelle.  I hope I can make it out this year before
baby #2 makes her appearance!

3.What is the best dish you make?

This is another hard question!  I
don’t really have any “special” dishes I make.   A favorite in our house is a spaghetti
recipe given to me by Matt’s grandfather. We also make pizza once a week and
make the dough and sauce from scratch.

4.What is the best advice that you have
been given?

I don’t remember how it was phrased, but it was something along the lines
of “if you were the only Christian someone met, what would that tell them
about being Christian”.  It helps
remind me that I need to try my 
hardest  to be kind and courteous
to others. 

5.What would you do with $1000?

There are too many options!  Go on
a shopping spree, go to JoAnns and buy all the fabric, maybe get my husband a
welder.  I may also be a bit more
practical and put it in savings, or use it to fix things up around the house. 

Thanks so much Danielle for answering my questions and giving my readers the chance to get to know you! 

<3 Kelly

And just like that my little girl is 1.  We had a terrific weekend filled with family, friends, partying and yes, lots of boo hooing from this Momma! We are just starting our week today, because we had friends from Houston in until yesterday and Christopher had the day off. So I am finally putting the house back together and putting Hallie’s new toys away and clearing out some old baby toys. (Sniff Sniff)

Today I am sharing Hallie’s cake smash photos by my pal Larissa at Purple Moments Photography.  The cake was made by my sweet mother in law and OMG was it not only beautiful, but delicious!

Larissa thought it was so funny that Hallie was the only kid she had done a cake smash session with that actually ate the cake, (That’s my girl!) Anyway, we didn’t get a whole lot of smiles due to frosting being shoveled in this babes mouth, but they turned out super precious!

Ruffle Romper- Etsy Gold Crown Headband- Etsy

Hope you enjoyed!
Make sure to keep coming back this week for more about Hallie’s first birthday!
<3 Kelly

Please excuse me while I blubber and drone on for the next several posts about how big my baby girl is and how I am not ready for her to be 1 yet, even though regardless of whether I am ready or not, she will be 1 on Sunday and there is nothing I can do to change that fact.

Today I thought I would take a trip down memory lane with a picture from each month and give you a sneak peek of her 12 month photos!

Here goes:

It is so crazy to see how she has grown each month! She has come a long way from that itty bitty 4 pound baby we brought home from the hospital!

Happy Wednesday Good Friends! This Wednesday I have Biana here from B Loved Boston.  Biana is one of those girls that I always stop and think “Man, I wish I could be like her!” She is gorgeous, funny and has amazing taste! Make sure and check out her blog today! In the mean time, here’s what I got to learn about Biana and her blog!

1. Who?- Who are you? Tell my readers a bit about yourself