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.