This just in...

The amazingly talented Jessica Lake at Jessica Lake Photography did an amazeballs job photographing my OOC (out of control) 1 year old, including cleaning up cake from ever crevice of her studio. Here are the results.



Shirt: Piccadilly Circus Designs; Pettiskirt: Ebay; Hairbow: On loan from JLP

Hairbow: Hazelmoonfly Hairbows





Diaper cover: Little b Designs

{Sweet Craftikins Giveaway}

To my LA and Orange County followers.

My BFF Jenni over at Sweet Craftikins is doing a Fourth of July giveaway. All you need to do is have three friends like her page on Facebook and then let her know by 10pm Pacific Time on July 1st. The winner will be selected on July 2nd and the cake pops will be delivered Sunday evening, July 3rd. This is the perfect addition to your Fourth of July party.

I hate moving!

This is a problem since we are a military family and we'll be moving every 3-4 years for the next 10 - 11 years. Mike is a Boatswains Mate in the US Coast Guard and plans to retire after his 20 years. So we have some additional moves ahead of us.

Well we just made our second move. Luckily it was a short move, only about two hours away. The nice thing about a military move is that they pack, wrap, load, move and unpack for you. This still requires you to find where to put all the crap you've accumulated over the last few years.

I think the hardest thing though is the financial strain. You know, the first months rent, last months rent and deposit required to move in. Ugh! That sure does take a hit to your savings account until you get settled. Plus cancelling water, trash, electricity, gas, cable, internet and phone. Then setting it back up in your new place with the added setup fees.

Oh yeah, and then finding a new daycare provider. That is something we didn't have to worry about last time. We thought that since we moved from a small town to a bigger city we would have more options. Well that really isn't the case. I called a few home daycares (which is what we originally wanted) only to find out a majority of them close down for summer. WHAT? So dumb. We luckily found a "facility" that we like and that will take her right into preschool when the time comes. Something I wont have to worry about looking for in a few years. The negative of the place we found is that they only have part time available right now and they are hoping to have a full time position available in a few months. We decided to jump on it and Courtney will just stay home with Mike on the other two days until that full time position opens up. It will be hard to have her home while I'm working but we can handle it for awhile. Not to mention, part time will save us a little money for awhile. And mo money makes me happy! :)

Learning our signs.

We've been working on signs with Courtney for a few months now and just one day she sort of just picked it up. She doesn't do it all on her own, but does it when prompted. This video shows her doing "more" and "all done". She has recently started signing "milk" but we don't have that on video yet.

I apologize for the crapy quality. It's a cell phone video.

I'm an Auntie...again!

Being an Auntie is amazing! I now have three beautiful nieces to spoil and then send back to their parents. Hey, I have my own trouble maker at home. My wonderful sister-in-law delivered a healthy baby girl on June 17. Lily Rose was 7 pounds 3 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long. Not sure her exact birth time but she worked her mommy to the brink. She labored for almost 48 hours. Poor Amy! Since we live in Washington and our family is back in California, we have yet to meet our newest niece. But we plan to not wait too long.

Please enjoy this sweet face.

Love Amazon Mom

If you haven't signed up for Amazon Mom, do it! You get free 2-day shipping for a limited time. But if you continue to buy baby/child products they extend your free 2-day shipping. It's awesome. We just purchased this for Courtney and had it shipped in 2 days for free.

My ONE year old!

My sweet baby girl turned ONE on June 1. I have a ONE year old. Oh-Em-Ge.

We traveled "home" to California to celebrate with our families. The day started by Mike and I singing Happy Birthday to a bright eyes and bushy tailed little girl. I remembered to bring Courtney's 12 month sticker, but not to bring a white onesie. So a pink butterfly onesie had to do.



After a morning snooze, we got dressed and headed out to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Waiting for the tram.


Birthday button.


In front of the flower Mickey!


Mommy and Courtney sporting "ears".


Meeting Rabbit!


Getting ready to ride Small World!


Meeting Princess Belle!


and Mickey Mouse!


On June 4th, we had Courtney's First Bee-Day Party!

Courtney with Auntie Alisha. The only photo I have of her in her birthday outfit. How aweful I am huh?


Dessert table.


Smash cake thanks to the Great Dane Bakery!


Nom nom nom


Pinata time!


Kisses from mommy and daddy!


A little about what Courtney is up to these days.

1) She walks, everywhere.
2) She signs "more" and "all done" when prompted.
3) She says "Daisy". Our dog.
4) She is in that "all I want is mommy stage".
5) She is solely on whole milk and no more formula.
6) Still using bottles but I'll slowly try to transition to sippys. As of now she wont drink milk from a sippy. She spits it out.
7) She blows kisses and kisses her stuffed animals. She says "muah". So cute.
8) She thinks everything is a telephone and puts it up to her ear.

That's all I can think of right now. We have a sweet, outgoing little girl that we are so happy to watch blossom into a toddler.

We love you baby!

Am I killing you?

With no 1st birthday pictures yet? Well, I have movers packing up our house as we speak. I should have a little time in the next week to post them.

But in the meantime, Courtney had her 12 month well check appointment yesterday. She is 23.3 pounds (85%) and 31 1/4 inches tall (94%). She is our tall girl. My poor baby girl got 3 shots and a toe prick. She was in hysterics and I was there all alone. :(

Ok...so maybe I can do a sneek peak:
nom nom nom