Henry - 3 Months

 

• You are OBSESSED with your hands and spend 80% of your wake time trying to fit your entire fist into your mouth.
• You now hate tummy time.  To build your neck muscles, Jason has to fly you around like superman while you hold your neck up.
• You now bat at the toys hanging from your playmat.  This means it keeps you entertained for longer periods of time!

•  You are content sitting in your bouncy seat while I get a shower.  I started doing this when you got sick at 10 weeks old and the shower steam helped you to breathe easier.

•  Speaking of your first cold... it was TERRIBLE!  It honestly didn't seem to bother you much, but I cried a lot.  (I was sick too.)  You got over it in 5 days, luckily.
• You are still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but will be growing out of them any day now.

•  You sometimes look at Lucie, but don't pay any attention to her... even when she walks by and licks your head.
• I went back to work (on V-day) and you went to daycare at 12 weeks old.  You are doing awesome and they love you.  You only cry when you're hungry and smile when anyone talks to you.
• I come to visit  you during my lunch each day and nurse.  It's the best part of my day.  

•  You learned how to spit and blow bubbles. 
• You like to watch tv and will turn your head to see it.  Don't worry, I'm not one of those mothers than uses tv to babysit... even though there have been times that I have been tempted.  ; )

•  You are a great sleeper!  Sometimes you sleep ALL NIGHT... I'm talking 10 hours straight!  Sometimes you wake up once or twice, but after eating you go right back to sleep.
• Everyone still says you look like your dad.  Can't say I mind since I think your dad is quite handsome.

•  Speaking of that daddy of yours... you sure do like him.  You are always watching him and smiling.

•  You smile A LOT!  We can even get some giggles out of you now.

 

• Your favorite place to be is on the changing table.  You start smiling, cooing and kicking your feet when we put you on it. 
• We bought a bunch of Soothie pacis and thought that you just didn't care for pacis in general.  Wrong.  I just happened to give you a Avent paci and you went to town on it!  I've since discovered you like Nuk pacis too.
• We take you lots of places with us and you are always so good... never making a peep.

•   Everyone who meets you adores you... and I can't blame them.  You are quite the charmer.

I love you so much and life just doesn't seem long enough now that you are a part of it.  

Happy 3 months to my sweetums!

Wedding Cake Link Up

I loved my wedding cake, so when I saw that Britt at The Magnolia Pair was hosting a link up to show off your wedding cake, I had to join in the fun!

Here goes...

 
If I remember correctly each layer was a different flavor - Red Velvet with cream cheese filling, Chocolate with raspberry filling and Italian Cream.  The top layer was Chocolate with raspberry filling.  We did save it and tasted it on our one year anniversary... we didn't let it defrost properly and it was soggy.  At least it tasted delish the night of the wedding!

My favorite part of our wedding day was coming back to our hotel room around 1 am, exhausted and starving.  The caterer made us doggy bags of food and cake.  I think I ate a pound of cake in minutes!  Best cake I've ever had... good thing considering it was also the most expensive!  :)

Pinterest - "For The Home"

I am obsessed with Pinterest... mainly b/c it's one of the only things I can do one-handed while holding my babe. 

Lately I have been pinning a lot of "for the home" items.  Below are some of my faves.  If you have a "for the home" board, leave me a message with the link.  I'd love to see it!

http://pinterest.com/ashhinzman/for-the-home/

I love backsplashes!

This piece can be found on this blog - http://www.abitowhimsy.com/.  She is very talented!

I love leaning bookshelves and this color is beautiful!

Not a fan of the choice of flowers, but this looks simple enough to make.  Plus, I can make one for each season using different colors and flowers.

Perfect for the kitchen!

I love using fresh herbs and they can be so expensive to buy at the grocery store.  I am going to get a bucket like this and grow my own this summer.

I either need to do this or get rid of some flip flops... I have a huge pile of them in the back of my closet.

I survived!

I survived the first week back to work after maternity leave.  It was really hard the first day, but I have awesome co-workers who know how to make a girl feel special.

Love the sign, made by our sales associate who got the idea from Pinterest.

The card had notes from each of my team members.  My manager wrote "You've been gone?  Who approved that?"  haha!

I was able to go to the daycare and nurse Henry on my lunch break each day, so that made it much easier.  I cried when I had to leave him the first few days, but by Friday... no tears! 

The daycare is wonderful!  They call me to tell me when he finsished his morning bottle, so that I know what time to come for the next feeding.  How awesome is that?!  Henry seems to love all the fun things to look at and all the new ladies to flirt with.  The director says he smiles all the time.  I'm happy he's adjusting... maybe we can do this after all!  :)

Giveaway Winners...

Drumroll please...

Giveaway Winners Are:

#34 - Mia from Ms. Mia Maree wins the Dogeared Karma Necklace

#86 - Tara from Fabulous But Evil wins a bottle of Essie nail polish

#59 - Verda wins a bottle of Essie nail polish

Winners, I will be emailing you soon to get your address.  Congratulations!

Thanks to all my followers and all who entered!  I appreciate the bloggy love!  

Can't wait to do another giveaway when I reach 100!

V-Day Swap Reveal

My first swap was a success!  I was paired up with Jules from A Beautiful Day, who I discovered spent some of her childhood in Kentucky!  She grew up close to where my husband did.  Small world!  

She has such a fun personality and I enjoyed shopping for her!  Visit her blog to see what I got her and to get to know her better.  She is planning on doing a giveaway once she reaches 50 followers... help a sista out and follow her!  If her giveaway is anything as good as my swap gift, you are in for a treat!

When I opened the package I could not believe my eyes... which quickly filled with tears.  It was beautiful... perfect actually.

Framed pictures with scrapbook paper, ribbon, borders, etc... handmade card and heart box with yummy Hershey Kisses!  Note the birth stats in the top middle.

Here is a pic of it without the glass frame, so you can get a better look at the details.

Julie owns a scrapbooking company, Pictures & Pens, and put her talents to work using pics from my blog.  It is precious!  The colors are perfect... our house is decorated in red and black.  She didn't even know that!  This frame will have a primo place in our living room when we buy our new house... which we are currently hunting for.  

Thank you so much, Julie!  I really appreciate all the time and care you took in making this.  I am so happy we got paired up and look forward to a lifelong bloggy friendship!

My heart is breaking...

Seriously, I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest.  Very few times in my life have I been this sad.  I have spent the last 12 weeks dreading the day I have to leave my baby and go back to work.  It's not that I don't love my job b/c I truly do... it's just that the thought of being away from Henry all day is horrible. 

I never thought I could be a stay at home mom... it always seemed like it would be lonely.  Now I know that I would actually love it.  I have loved being there every second of the day to take care of my little man.  With Jason still in school, working towards his Phd, we can't afford for me to quit or work part-time.  Sooooo... I will have to put on my big girl panties and do what millions of moms do every day.  Go to work and hope our babies don't think we have abandoned them.  I realize this isn't the case but that thought keeps popping up in my mind. 

We have a great daycare and I will be able to go nurse him on my lunch break most days.  It's not that bad; I admit that I'm a bit dramatic.  Please say a prayer for me on Tuesday that I can hold myself together and not cry all day.  Yes, it's Valentine's Day too... at least I have an excuse to ease my pain with chocolate.

This is what we are doing on a Friday night... wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

 On a lighter note, don't forget to enter my Dogeared Karma Necklace Giveaway! It ends on Sunday!

Giveaway - Dogeared Karma Necklace

IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I have officially reached 50 followers... well 53 to be exact!  Yay!!!

As a big thank you, I want to give one of you my all-time favorite accessory. 

The Dogeared Karma Necklace

I wear this necklace with anything and everything!

It's a 16"sterling silver chain with a 1/2" sterling silver karma circle.

And just for fun... 

I will also send 2 more winners a bottle of Essie nail polish!

The new 2012 colors are fun... loving the green, even though it would look terrible on me.

Also loving the Luxeffects!  

Here's how you can win one of the 3 prizes...

1)  Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect. 1 entry

2)  Leave a comment telling me what your go-to accessory is.  2 entries

3)  Blog about my giveaway.  3 entries

The giveaway ends on Sunday 2/12/12 and I will announce the winner on Monday 2/13/12.

Good Luck... may the best gal(s) win!

My Love Story (link up)

Linking up to tell my love story!  Plus I love reading others!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?   

9 years...  since Feb 18, 2003

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}  

Jason and I met outside the dorm where we both lived while attending UK.  A big group of guys were hanging out in front of the entrance when my friend Sarah and I came back from the library and we chatted with them for a bit.  Jason introduced himself to me as "Bird", a nickname he had growing up.  (I didn't know that wasn't his last name for several months.)  I thought he was a cool guy, but too young for me... he was a freshman and I was a sophomore. 

A few weeks later Jason knocks on my dorm door to see if I want to go to a Nappy Roots concert.  His roommate bought the ticket and couldn't go, so he offered it to me... but didn't make me pay for it, therefore this was technically our first date.  We had a great time at the concert and it was that night that I developed a bit of a crush.  Over the next 4 months we spent a lot of time together and developed a great friendship.  My group of girlfriends hung out a lot with his group of guy friends.  For Valentine's Day (2003), my friend Sarah and I decorated the boys doors and made them cookies.  The next day I was heading home to Western KY and on my car I found roses and a card (which I still have) signed "Love, Jason".  The next day Lexington got a major ice storm that shut down the city for weeks and cancelled classes for a few days.  When I finally made it back to Lexington on Feb 18, things had changed a bit with Jason and I.  We were no longer just friends... even though it was months later that we made it "official".  

Taken summer 2003... we had been dating about 4 months.

 3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

Jason and I tied the knot on April 25, 2009.  A fun fact... remember when I said it was months later that we made it official... the actual date we made it official was April 25, 2003.  I had forgotten about this date b/c Jason and I had decided years ago that our dating anniversary should be Feb 18.  After we set the wedding date (which was based on vendor availability), I looked back at my school agenda from 2003 and realized the dates matched up.  It was meant to be!

 4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?   

We married at St. Paul Catholic Church in Lexington, in front of 150 of our closest friends and family.

 5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!   

We use "honey" a lot.  

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.   

Besides the fact that he's a great daddy and wonderful supportive husband... 1) he is a good cook and doesn't mind doing most of the cooking in our house  2)  he tells me every day that he loves me and that I am the best mom  3)  he is a man's man... and fixes things as soon as he realizes they need to be fixed.

If you want the full list, visit this post --->  Shout Out To My Baby Daddy.  

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?  

I think I will keep this somewhat private, but it was the weekend of our 5th dating anniversary.  The ring is special b/c it contains the diamond that his grandfather gave his grandmother.  

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?   

Flowers and teddy bear.  He's the kind of guy that brings home flowers randomly, just to be sweet.  

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?   

A sunset dinner on the beach sounds wonderful, but since we live in KY and there are no beaches besides the stinky shores of the Ohio River, we will have to settle for the movie on the couch.  It's not so bad.  :)

On our honeymoon, we got to have sunset dinner on the beach every night.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? 

Build our dreamhome... a lakehouse and spend summers there with our family.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.   

It's the first day back to work for me, so I will prob spend it at home snuggling my baby.  We'll probably celebrate us on our dating anniversary - Feb 18... maybe get a babysitter and go out to a nice dinner.  

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?  

I don't need any more chocolate (trying to lose the fat from sitting on my butt eating the past 12 weeks baby fat).  I would be happy with a sweet card.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.   

Say "I love you" every day and continue to find fun things to do together outside the house.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Henry's tiny feet with our wedding rings on his toes.

Top 10 Tuesday: Music - Love Songs

Linking up with Emily at A Beautiful Beginning for a Top 10 Tuesday: Music.

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, my top 10 music list includes some of my favorite love songs.

1. 4 and 20 - Joss Stone
2. Our Kind of Love - Lady Antebellum
3. Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
4. You Are The Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
5. Love Love Love - Trista Prettyman
6. Love On Top - Beyonce
7. My Sweet Song - Toby Lightman
8. Turn Me On - Norah Jones
9. Say It Again - Natasha Bedingfield
10. At Last - Etta James  (Mine & Jason's "song")

Link up and tell us what you're jamming to this week!  I go back to work next week and spend a lot of time in my car, so I need to download some new songs. Give me some ideas!

Almost to 50.... giveaway coming soon!

Only 3 More Until I Reach 50 Followers!  How exciting!  I think it's high time to do a giveaway.

When I asked Henry to give me his excited face, I got this...

How cute is his bow-tie shirt???

Eventually he gave me a smile, but then blinked.  Geesh!

 Thanks to my 47 followers who have shown me bloggy love!  It makes my day when I log on and see that I have a new follower or comments.  I am happy that my blog is more than just an easier way to keep a journal, but perhaps a way to entertain people and share ideas, as well.

I am ordering the giveaway prize today in hopes that I will reach 50 followers very soon... like in the next week!  Fingers Crossed!

I am thinking of doing one big prize and maybe a few smaller ones too.  Maybe a trip to the mall is in order for the smaller prizes.  I haven't been there since before Christmas and am having withdrawls! 

I know some of my friends have had some technical issues following me with Google Friend Connect... so if that is you, email me at agale76@yahoo.com and I will help you figure it out, so that you can get in on the giveaway.

Stay tuned!!!