Favorite Spot

Zoie is so funny! She is a unique individual and is developing her personality every single day. We spend most of our days in the living room playing, talking, and watching movies. Lately she has been rolling around on the floor everywhere. I will put her down in one place and turn around to get something and the next thing I know she is on the other side of the room. I can only imagine how much of a hassle she will be once she learns to crawl. I probably won't be able to look away for a second.

As much as I want Zoie to start crawling, I really don't want her too. I want her too because its fun to watch her learn something new and like it. I don't  want her too because it only means she is growing up. I'm not sure I am ready for her to do that quite yet. (Not like I can stop it from happening or anything).

Anyway, back to the reason for this post. I have noticed that Zoie has a favorite spot to hang-out in the living room. She likes to hang-out pretty much anywhere, but tends to go to our computer desk, off the carpet and onto the wood floors.

She just loves that spot, especially while wathcing a movie. She loves Thumbelina and is really a girl!! Zoie is a very entertaining little girl and it makes me so happy to see her happy! 

Meaning

For a while now I have been wanting to bring some type of meaning to this here blog, but couldn't decide what that meaning should be. This blog is sort of our family jounal, which I plan on printing off at the end of each year (I think it would be a fun way for our children to look back at and read). With our blog being about our family and the things we do, the events that take place, and the crazy things we discover, learn, and create I really wanted to have a theme.

After much contemplation about a bunch of different themes and posting it as my facebook status, I finally decided on one (thanks to a long time family friend). If you haven't already noticed, it is "Happiness in the Journey." I went with this one because we are definietely on a journey. This couldn't be more of a perfect fit, because as one of my favorite quotes states, " Everyday is a journey and the journey itself is home." This is SO true and it is our home where we love, cherish, enjoy, and are happy while creating never-ending, never-fading memories on this JOURNEY.

This journey will be filled with much happiness, as Ryan and I watch Zoie and our future children grow and progress. As well as where we will be and what we will be doing. I'm very excited to finally have a meaning to my blog. I hope to share with you all the happiness we experience daily as we embark on this journey which we call LIFE.

Summer Bag

Summer is here!!! And what a better way to the start the summer off than makeing a fun, colorful, and unique summer bag. The best thing about this is I didn't have to spend a bunch of $$$$$ on one. While I  was blog stalking, browsing through one of my favorite blogs Women Who Do It All I found THIS tutorial on how to make a fun summer bag.
My bag is a little bigger than the one shown in the tutorial and has a couple more rows to the patchwork, but that's me. I wanted to make the bag a little bigger for all my mommy stuff. :) I even added a pocket to the inside of the bag. I just love this bag.

There's my pocket. It's orange with flowers.

Isn't it cute?

I don't mean to be cocky or prideful at all, but I do have to say I am very proud of myself. It took a night in a half to complete, lots of patience, and asking Ryan for his opinion. I always feel very accomplished after I complete a project. It keeps me going and keeps me wanting to do more projects.

I have had a few people ask me when I have time to do all my projects. Well... I wait until Zoie is down for the night and work until I am tired. The other night when I was working on the bag, I put Zoie down at 5:30pm and went to work and apparently lost track of time because Ryan came in and said "do you realize it's one in the morning." I had no idea. So yeah... I wait until Zoie is in bed, so I don't have any distractions. (oh and Zoie didn't take her third nap and was really tired and fell asleep all by herself)

Anyway, that's that. Try the tutorial out and make yourself a nice fun, colorful, unique summer bag. 

Easier to Find

Whenever we go out with the bug, I pack up my bag with the essentials (diapers, wipes, toys, wallet, keys, phone, snacks, etc). That's a lot of stuff right?! How am I suppose to find anything in my bag, especially when I desperately need a diaper. I can never find them, they always fall to the bottom of the bag and are all squished up. Moms, have you ever had that problem? I have it all the time.

No more worries, thanks to Ashley over at  Make-it & Love-it .She has a tutorial that I was able to make a diaper/wipe case. Which can be found HERE. It took me a while to make, and for some reason I couldn't follow or understand her directions, so at one point I just improvised and made it work for me. Now it fits perfectly in my bag and easy to find and grab quickly.

There is room for diapers and the wipe case!!! All in one deal!!

Now go on and make yours. Make life a little eaiser for you and add more space to your bag! I love mine!!

Zoie at 8 months

Yesterday so turned 8 months old. Only 4 more months until she is a year old. Don't know if I can handle that. She is growing up so much and much too quickly!!!

Here are her growth stats:
       WEGIHT: 17lbs 12 oz
        HEIGHT:  about 29 inches

She has gained a pound in a half since her 6 month check up and has grown about 2 inches. She definetely takes after her dad in height!! You bet I am going to make a volleyball hitter out of her!!!! :)

Zoie loves to roll over all the place. She is scooting on her stomach and just learned how to get up on her hands and knees. But she can't figure out how to crawl, everytime she tries she falls onto her stomach. Ryan and I think she will "commando crawl" before she actually crawls. Its so fun to watch and cheer her on.

We have so much fun together. Every other day Zoie and I go on a walk up to the University for my attack classes. She loves it. She just sits in the back and plays and talks to herself. She is such a chill baby. The other day she must of been really tired because she fell asleep half way through the class. It was so funny and adorable. She loves the attack and flow music and gets excited every time she hears it.

She loves to give kisses to mommy and daddy. Lately when I have been getting her from her naps, she grabs my face and gives me a kiss and then is ready to play. She is so cute!!! That's our little Zoie Bug.

House Tour I

A lot of friends and family have asked me to post pictures of our house, so they can see where we live and such. Its been a long time comin' because I wanted to have the rooms decorated a little bit and not make it look so much of a HOUSE but more of a HOME. So to start off, we will begin with our Living Room.

entering from the kitchen

entering from the hallway

I love this wall. I love photo collages!!

sorry its so dark, but its just another window where zoie hangs out

Frustrating!!!

Hey all... I have a couple posts ready for you, but my computer is once again being weird and the server won't let me upload photos to the blog. SORRY!!!! It's so frustrating.

I am going to figure this out and try to fix it for good. Has this happened to anyone else before and if so what did you do to fix it?

Have a great day and keep on, keepin' it real!! Oh and our little Zoie bug is 8 months today!! YAY!

Headbands

Last night I wasn't in the mood to fold and put the laundry away, but I did want to do a little project. So I told myself that if I could fold and put the laundry away then I could make my little project. I know, I have to find some crazy, weird way to motivate myself. Little did I know that I could actually make myself do that and guess what. I was able to have a little fun last night making these adorable headbands:

This is a yellow ribbon with a pink ribbon glued into the middle with a bow for a little bit of charm.

Want to add a little bit of SHIMMER and GLAM to your outfit. How about this pink and sparkly silver four-braided head band:

(This one was intended for Zoie, but her hair is weird and this just doesn't look good on her).

These were so simple and easy to make anyone can do it. If you like what you see, I found the tutorial HERE. When I saw this I knew I needed to make some for Zoie and some for me. But be careful because once you get going you can't stop. So what are you waiting for?! Go and make a few for yourself, your mom, your sister, your daughter,or your friend. Then let me know how yours turned out. It'll be fun to see what creative ideas you cans come up with. 

The Blue Bonnet Queen

Saturday I pulled out some plastic containers for Zoie to play with. She had lots of fun. She is in the stage where she will watch us do something and copy us. The other day I taught her how to give a high five and its so much fun to say, "Zoie high five" and she will do it, unless she is more interested in something else. Anyway, I pulled out an old butter container that we have and gave it to her to play with. This is how Zoie became the Blue Bonnet Queen:

Not so sure what to think

I can make noise with it and pick it up. Cool.

Mom what are you doing putting things on my head

Okay, I guess this is fun!!

SMOOCHES...

The moment you and me have been waiting for. I FINALLY finished Ryan's graduation gift!!!

 You ready?

Here it is:

As you can tell this empy wall in the living room was in much need of some spice and character. I think it looks great right there. 

Now the colors are not what I had in mind, but I really like how the finished project turned out. For some strange reason I have been in a grey phase and everything I want to make needs to have some grey in it. I really liked how it matched my not so peachish "SMOOCHES." The ribbon I found after I painted "say i love you" on and it matched perfect!!!

This project took me a while to complete. I spray painted (a few times) the base color ivory. I then printed off the saying and cut out the letters and traced them on to the wood. Then I painted the letters and added some ribbon. I think it looks pretty good. I can't wait to do some others. This was a lot of fun!

You may be wondering why would I give this to my husband as a graduation gift. Well... when we were dating and engaged he always said that to me. I thought it was weird because I have never heard anyone use the word SMOOCHES before. Then once we got married he has been wanting a sign in our house that had that saying on it. I guess it is kind of our family motto. That is why I decided make him his sign.

Tell me what you think? What are some sayings or quotes you like to use in your homes?

Haircut!

I have been wanting a change in my hair. Something new and maybe different. I just knew I need a change. So yesterday I got my haircut. I am still not sure if I like it or not. There are times where I do and others not so much. Its not much of a difference, but to me it feels like a huge difference (about 3 inches), and I have decided short hair is not for me. Well... at least not yet anyways!!!

So what do you all think?

And because I'm the mom and I can, I will post another pictures of my girl. I just can't get enough pictures of my sweet little girl. :) She is so much fun and is in the process of learning how to crawl, almost there, soon.:) We have some good times ahead of us. Can't wait!



Wedding Scrapbook Pt. I

I love to scrapbook, especially when I have photos and amazing ideas. So, after two years of marriage I finally printed some photos of our wedding and can now begin our wedding scrapbook. I spent the last three days working on these two pages. It took me a while to figure out the design, colors and such.

I had so much fun with this, even ask Ryan. Every idea I had or finish cutting, gluing, etc I ran into the living room and said "LOOK!" OH it was so much fun. I am very excited to finish the album and have it on display in our house. :) What do you think? Any cool creative ideas you wouldn't mind sharing.

Last night I painted Ryan's wood sign. It will be done by Friday. Keep your eyes open for that post!!

Piece of Watermelon

Is what Zoie tried the other day. We even let her hold the piece by herself ( I was scared that she was going to shove the whole thing into her mouth) but she did a good job and she loved eating watermelon. Zoie loves fruit, which I am very thankful for!!!

We would like to start early with good eating habits, fruits and vegetables, etc. Candy, chocolate, etc not so much. The only time we will let Zoie pig out on chocolate is her 1st birthday because that's a must. After that every so often, depending on how she eats for the day.

Right now she loves peas, squash, pears, and apple blueberries. She will eat carrots and applesauce, but not as much as the others. She doesn't like green beans and bananas. It's so much fun to see what Zoie will like and not like.

Sleeping Habits

My little girl is the cutest little girl in the whole world. She is letting her personality shine through her eyes, voice, and actions!! Sunday in Relief Society, I sat her on the ground to play while I played the piano and I guess (one of the sisters told me this) when I started to play the piano and everyone started to sing, Zoie just sat there and looked at everyone and smiled!! A lot of the sisters came up to me and asked if that was her personality,  always happy and smiling or if it was just a good day and I told them all, that Zoie is always this happy (except for those few occasions), but mostly she is always smiling and in a playful mood. They all absolutely loved her personailty.

Zoie has a "habit." I don't know if you can consider this a habit, but it happens all the time. Everytime Ryan or I lay her down for naps and bedtime, she grabs her blanket and pulls it up to her face,and rolls onto her side, and she falls asleep. It's the cutest thing. Lately, when she wakes up she now rolls onto her stomach and talks and plays until we come and get her. She is so funny and is defintely defining who she is.

sorry it's a little blurry

She has been going down pretty good for her naps and for bedtime. I can just wrap her in her blanket, give her her binky and lay her down and she falls asleep no problem. She really is a good first baby. Don't worry all I know I am spoiled. I am loving every minute of it, though!!

More...More...

Zoie finally learned to sign "more" with her hands. It was so good and I'm so proud of her. Tonight while I fed her her oatmeal and applesauce, I would sign "more" (which is having your fingertips tap against each other. sometimes it can look like your clapping) and then help Zoie out by doing it for her with her hands and then I would give her some more. The next time around I would do the sign and say more... more... and she would look at her hands in a very determined look and copy me. It was so cute. The next time around all I had to do was say more and she would make the sign. Oh I am so proud of her.

She has also grasped the concept of waving hi and bye. She now does it to everyone who walks by, who is in the room, and who drives by. It's funny. She is starting to understand us a bit. Our little bug is growing up. Here's to the new phase of her baby life. :)

Zoie enjoying the sunshine

Zoie and Mommy having fun with the camera

Just for fun! :) oh I am on my tip toes too.

Finished Bathroom

So I have been working on spicing up our bathroom. We are renting so I am not able to paint the walls or do certain things. I improvised and did my best to make our bathroom a clean, calming room. I know... how can a bathroom be calming, I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but there is defintely a calming feeling in there :)

I took our shelf apart and spray painted the boards an ocean blue color and then I painted the rods that hold the shelf together white. I didn't want them to be too white, because I wanted a wishy-washy feel to it. Then I cut out different sized circles from yellow cardstock and mod-podge them all over the shelf. It turned out better than I though it would. What do you think?

Then to add more color, I mod-podge some more yellow and blue cardstock onto a jar the holds our toothbrushes and toothpaste. It didn't turn out as I would of liked but it serves its purpose. It doesn't look too bad, yes?

There wasn't enough room on the shelf for Zoie's bathroom jazz. So I took a little basket and put it on top of the toliet and put her jazz in there and it worked perfectly. I absolutely love it!!!

Our bathroom is nothing fancy or anything special, but it sure does bring a new feeling into our home. Plus, I was able to experiment with some craft ideas and improve my skills. It was fun!!

22 years!!

Happy Birthday to you!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!

Happy Birthday dear Hillary. Happy Birthday to you!!!

On May 3rd I turned 22. I can't believe it and it I feel just the same as I do any other day of the week. However, today is the only day out of the year that I can tell my husband to do anything or not to do anything because it is my birthday. It was a lot of fun. We spent the day just hanging out and relaxing as a family. We haven't been able to that in a very long time.

For my birthday Ryan decided to help me out with my crafty side and get me a craft basket. He is such a great guy!!! He got me this really cute basket and it was filled with: ribbons, paint brushes, paint, paint tray, tacky glue, seam ripper, and a dress pattern. I absolutely love it!! My grandma got me a shirt, really nice scarf, and a very cute necklace. My mother-in-law got me a candle, a cute bracelet, and a very handy amazing travel make-up kit. My parents bought me a ticket to fly home with Zoie for most of the summer. We are super super excited and can't wait until June 4th!!! Now Zoie is still working on her present for me. I told her the best present would be saying mom. She has said it once and it melted my heart. But she can say Hi and wave her hand at people. It's the cutest thing in the world, so that'll do. :)

I got a call from all my siblings and it was so fun to talk to them. They all sound so grown up and enjoying life. I miss them so much and can't wait to see them again.

I didn't get to have my homemade cheesecake for my birthday, but Ryan did make me brownies with a huge layer of funfetti frosting. It's been a while since I've done this, but I was able to make a wish and blow out candles on my brownie cake. I felt like a little kid again.

My current project I am working on is Ryan's graduation present. Since we have been married, he has always wanted a wood sign to hang up in our house that says "Smooches say I Love You." So that is what I am making him. Hopefully it will be done in a week or two. I am taking my precious time on this because I am doing everything by hand. So keep your eyes out for it, it'll be coming soon. Plus I had to wait for my craft basket for the supplies :)

Happy Birthday to me!!!

The Graduate!!!

Ryan walking

Ryan graduated from Southern Virginia University on 30 April 2011, with his Bachelors degree in English!!! What an accomplishment and a wonderful feeling to be done!! Ryan graduated magna cum laude. He was on the President's List (gpa in the top 10 %), also on the Provost's List (gpa at or above 3.5), and was in the Sigma Tau Delta (International English Honor Society).

It's so nice to both be done. Ryan's parents came down to celebrate, and we had enjoyed their company. It was a lot of fun. Ryan will be doing summer school, to finish up some credits. He is taking a film class, a Jane Austin class, and a computer tech class. Once he is finished with those classes, he will receive his diploma and we will then begin our next step in our wonderful family journey.  Zoie and I are so proud of him.