Preparing for the Big 0-1!

A person only turns 1 once and I wanted to do some fun things for Sloane's 1st birthday.  The "theme" of her birthday party is Minnie Mouse.  She absolutely loves and adores Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Today I got crafty, which doesn't happen very often, and made some chocolate-dipped pretzels and stuck a whole lot of stickers onto water bottles.  I'll post more pictures after her party - I hope it all comes together!

Chocolate-dipped pretzels

Sloane's very own water bottles!

She Walks!

At 11 months old, Sloane took her first steps!

We are ecstatic, to say the least.

Family Traditions

My mom has always been a card person - she sends cards to everyone for all occasions.  It is one thing I have loved and enjoyed throughout the years since I've left home.  Seeing that card in the mail with mom's handwriting always got me excited & still does to this day.  Now she is starting the same tradition with Sloane and she really enjoys getting cards from her Mimi.

Checking out Elmo

Reading the card, really concentrating!

On the subject of traditions, Greg had a great idea, to start a family tradition of homemade pizza on Friday nights.  This is something we can start and do with Sloane as she grows older.  We were busy this past Friday night, so we tried it out tonight.  Greg got a Weber grill for his birthday, to go with the collection of grills in the backyard.  We ordered the attachment for it to let us smoke pizzas.  It was a success.  Here are some pictures.

While making pizza dough, I caught a few pics of Sloane.

 

Putting the first pizza into the weber pizza smoker!  700 degrees!!

hot!

Our final product - it was very tasty!

One Side Down, One To Go

Well I have one side done - the back side that faces the dining room/kitchen area.

I ended up purchasing an oil-rubbed bronze color.  Black seemed just so black and too much of a contrast.  I think it looks great and am excited to spray the front side - next up, do I want to paint the bricks or not?  What do you think?

Painting the Fireplace?

What am I getting myself into?  If I sit at home too long (i.e. Fall break) I start to get ideas.  My sister put the bug in my ear a while back ago about painting our fireplace brick - right now they are in their original brick state and I'm seriously thinking of painting them all WHITE!  Of course, I have to paint the fireplace surround too because it is a horrid brass color that stares at me and shines - it is all I see when I am sitting in the living room.  Here are a few before pictures and hopefully I will have a great after photo to share... one day.

Front side of fireplace, into living room

Back side of fireplace, into dining room


You're jealous of the brass, aren't you?

Here are some inspirational photos:

Do you think once I paint the brick white, I'll have fabulous rugs, furniture, and decorative accents show up just like the ones in these photos?

Must-see Monday

Getting ready to go for a stroll on this crisp, Fall day!

Fall Break!

I can not believe I have not blogged since July 4th!  I am ashamed, but life has been so busy - between a new school year and having a baby girl, blogging has taken the back burner.  Now that I am on Fall break, maybe I can catch everyone up on what has been going on!

I have begun a new school year and a new adventure in the 5th grade.  I am a math and science teacher and have really enjoyed the journey so far!  I work with wonderful people and that school is my 2nd home.

5th Grade Team

Sloane is now 10 months, time has flown by!

10 month picture

She weighs 20.5 lbs and is a tall girl!  I guess I need to begin planning her 1st birthday - it will be here before you know it!  I am struggling with ideas, themes, etc.  If anyone has any suggestions, please comment!  I am going to keep it small - family and close friends and don't want to get out of control or spend too much money.  Some of Sloane's favorite things:

*Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
*Little Einsteins
*Being outside
*Birdie
*Going for walks in the neighborhood
*Waffles, turkey dogs, sweet potatoes, carrots, puffs, watermelon
*Looking at pictures
*Being read to, loves books!
*Going to Community Bible Study school with her great-grandmother
*Seeing people at the mall, she is a people watcher like her Mama and Mimi

Here is a photo of her and I a few weeks ago at my sister's house - they have a lot of acreage and we enjoyed playing.

Mama and Sloane

Sloane enjoyed her first tailgating experience at Mississippi State a few weeks ago.  Mississippi State played South Alabama and won!  We tailgated with my wonderful friend, Robyn, and her family and some other friends.  Korbyn, Landon, and Sloane enjoyed seeing one another and also enjoyed some tailgating food.  Here is a photo of Kristy, Robyn, and myself with our little bulldogs.

BIG NEWS - Greg turned the big 3-0 this past Saturday.  Funny enough, my dear friend Kristy's husband shares the same birthday.  We decided to take the boys on a night trip to Tunica and enjoy a nice dinner and play at the casino.  I think Kristy and I were most excited about an uninterrupted night's sleep!  Of course, by the next morning we were ready to get back to our babies, but really enjoyed our time together and getting away from reality for a night!  

Dinner at the casino restaurant, 37

My sister Emily is on a new adventure of blogging.  She has created a design blog that will be a design/retail blog in the near future.  She is full of great ideas and professional advice.  Please check her blog out and follow her!

Emily Conley and Company

BIB 911

I desperately need to find durable, thick, and of course cute bibs for Sloane.  She drools like a faucet (or more like a water hose) and everything soaks through so quickly. Any suggestions on good finds from moms who have been where I am?  Just to give you an idea, I stopped counting at 8 bib changes yesterday.  Her bottom two teeth are halfway through and she stays wet!  Thanks for suggestions :)

Happy 4th of July to everyone - hope you make memories and eat good food!

Sleep, How I Miss Thee...

Believe it or not, this sweet girl does not sleep through the night.   I know many moms that struggle with this and I'm trying to figure out a way to get Sloane to sleep through the night or close to it.  I feel like I've done everything wrong in this parenting thing.  I didn't swaddle because she squirmed too much, I didn't let her 'self-soothe' because rocking her to sleep was "our" special time at night - but they are the things that worked for us and got us through those first few months.....  

She normally goes to bed around 7pm and will wake at least once, sometimes twice.  She has done this most of her life, all almost 7 months of it, and I'm ready for it to stop.  Mama needs sleep, especially when I go back to work soon.  When she was a newborn we were to feed her at night because she needed it, but at this point she doesn't need to eat at night.  But, we have fallen into a bad habit of giving her a bottle when she does wake up so she'll go back to sleep easily.  I have skimmed a few books with help on this topic - from "tanking her up" before bed, trying to feed her more during the day, crying it out, the Ferber method, and the Baby Whisperer lady - but it is definitely proving to be the most difficult part of this whole baby thing.  We tried to let her cry it out last night, after an hour I couldn't take it anymore - she was a sweaty mess of tears and I just don't know if that is healthy!  So what did I do?  I gave her a bottle, rocked her, and put her down and she slept 3 more hours - 3 hours I REALLY wanted to sleep.  Are there any other moms who have dealt with this and or dealing with this now with advice.  Do I just accept that she isn't a sleeper and hope for the best in the future?   I've heard some moms who say their babies wake much more than Sloane, so it isn't that bad - but boy, do I miss my sleep!  She is such a sweet baby and smiles so big when you do go in to see her at night, I guess it makes it that much harder!

On a good note - her first tooth made an appearance yesterday!  She has been teething since 2 months and it is about time!  We are very excited about this.... it's the little things :)

Mama Perk!

It is definitely a perk that my uncle works for Evenflo.  He signed me up to be a part of the "Moms Research Group."  Basically, the company sends me products (I have no idea what) and I use the product, complete surveys, then keep the product!  It was a no brainer to agree to do this because I love free baby stuff (although my house looks like Babies'R'Us is moving in)!  Last night we received our first package - a high chair!  It is very modern looking and Sloane looks great in it, see below!  I've been using different things to feed her in, but mostly in a small booster seat type feeding chair that is portable.  Having an actual high chair to feed her in is a treat!

Such a big girl in her big chair!

Sitting up high!

Little Miss Sits

Sloane is trying her hardest to sit up on her own. Today she went as long as 5 seconds (come on, in baby time that's like 5 minutes)! Of course, you can see my leg behind her in case she leans back as I'm trying to capture it on camera. It truly amazes me, how in a matter of a day, a baby can learn something new. She amazes me.

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Random

Sloane had her 6 month checkup yesterday (a few weeks late), but she checked up good and healthy!
She weighs 18.4 lbs and is 28 inches long!  Her height is in the 97th percentile, so I hope she is tall like her Aunt Emily!  The shots were no fun, it is always hard to see your baby cry so hard she can barely catch her breath - she hates the needle.  The shots made for a rough night and morning, but she seems to be feeling a bit better, here she is snoozing while I blog:

Sleeping

So, yesterday I tried to put the Moby Wrap on me and carry Sloane around the house and in the yard.  I tried several months back but it was so awkward trying to get her in it after I had it tied around me.  It worked better yesterday.  But my question is, how do mom's put these on in public so fast and walk around with their child?  I see moms all the time in public places - I literally have to stand in front of a mirror and it takes several minutes to figure it out and half of the time I am laid up on the bed.  I can see myself on the hood of my car trying to strap Sloane in.... I think I'll just leave it at home and use it around the house.  However, it does help out on the back strain, carrying a nearly 19 lb child on my hip is getting to my old (almost 31 year old) bones.

Colorado Family Vacay 2012

This summer vacation was spent with my family in Colorado.  For the past several summers our family gathers somewhere in Colorado to visit, relax, and play.  This summer we played in Frisco, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Lake Dillon.  Beautiful scenery and quite a different vacation, now that we have Sloane.  She loved each minute, seeing family and observing new sites and smells!  

On the shuttle at the Nashville airport, the beginning of a long day.  Yes, we drove 3 hours to Nashville because the tickets were THAT much cheaper than flying out of Memphis.  At this point I had no idea the fun that was ahead on the plane with a 6 month old....

View from our condo

Another view of the tennis courts from our condo

Aidan, my nephew

Aunt Emily rocking the Baby Bjorn to walk with Sloane

Mimi could not get enough kisses from Sloane

Grandaddy telling Sloane all about the USDA and reconstruction of agriculture

Walking around the lake

Beautiful view from the lake

Family photo

Me and Dad taking a break

Aidan and Mimi sharing a moment of laughter

Greg visited the Continental Divide, me and Sloane stayed inside where it was warm

Greg got his geocaching itch scratched

Throwing a little snow ball or two

Greg

Sloane sleeping in the burley, what a bike ride!

Me hauling Sloane

We stopped for a picture, think we were in Breckenridge

In Dillon at the outlet mall, beautiful bridge, fly fishers behind us

Greg and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at the Dam Brewery, it was dam good.

Halfway through the bike ride, Em took over the burley to give me a break