Ariana's First Birthday

Today is the day. My little baby daughter is officially ONE year old.
I still can't believe she is 1. She's no longer my little baby.....she's my little 1 year old. It makes me sad to think about that. I don't know why, but when I think about it, I cry. A lot. I've cried more this week than I have in a long time. The last 365 days went by so fast, it makes my head spin. She's doing so much now. Walking, talking, running, eating big kid foods...oy.

I don't know her stats since she hasn't been to the doctor in 6 months, but she has a check up the 7th so I'll update you all then.

Here's a little recap of what we did to celebrate her special day....

We rented a room (the same room where my baby-shower was held) and we decorated it with light pink, dark pink, and yellow.... crepe paper, balloons, table cloths, plates, cups, the works.
We also had the same color cupcakes for everyone to enjoy. (I'm a frigging moron and didn't take any pictures of the decor, or food, ((I got it all on video)) so you'll have to take my word for it.)

The location of the party is about an hour and a half from where we live, so we got up at the butt crack of dawn and hit the road. We had to stop off and pick up a few last minute items. We got in town and dropped the little off at my grandparents so we could go decorate and set everything up.
Apparently she was having too much fun and didn't want to take her afternoon nap.
That, my friends, was not a good thing. When it was time for her party the Mr picked her up while I entertained the early arrivals.
As soon as he walked in the door with her, I could see how exhausted she was. I knew this wasn't going to turn out well.  This was her amazingly cute outfit we ordered (got to love Etsy) The hat, however, we picked up at Party City! I couldn't resist.

 We let her run around a bit while we waited for everyone to show up, and this gave everyone a chance to love on her before the festivities began.
Then she got a little pissed and just wanted to play with my cell phone. So we let her. (to prevent any further breakdowns)

 Once everyone showed up it was present time! She had so many presents it took her two days to open them all. Her pack n' play is now her toy box. Guess what she'll be getting for Christmas?!

 After opening a few, she was over it. She was tired, and grumpy, and everything was a bit overwhelming for her. We decided it was cake time (hoping the sugar would help a bit)

 Her entire life up to this point, she had never had any kind of sweets. Ever. I was very adamant that the first time she would have any kind of "junk" food would be her first birthday cake! She freaking LOVED it.

 I've always heard people say that kids usually just play in the cake, they don't actually eat much of it. Um, not this kid. She tore it UP! See that picture? There were big, puffy balloons on the top, see how they're missing? That's because she ate them.

 At this point we had to cut her off. She had had enough. (We also forgot to put a bib on her, so her outfit got a little messy.) What do you expect?! It was our first time! lol

Right after this picture was taken, we cleaned her up, and people started leaving. So we cleaned up our mess, and headed home. All in all, it was a success. She could have been in a better mood, but it could have been worse, so I'm happy :)

The next day (her actual birthday) we took her to Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

The monorail wasn't running when we got there, so A got her enjoy her first boat ride! By the way, the weather was GORGEOUS! We couldn't have asked for better weather!

Babe and her daddy!

The first thing we did was head straight for the carousel. The line was short, and I knew it was one of the few things we could all enjoy. As you can tell, she loved it! 

Isn't she the cutest!!

We also ran into Cap'n Jack! That was pretty awesome!

We ate lunch, and then it was nap time. Her daddy and I could have used one too, but we just walked around a did a little shopping while she slept.

After an HOUR we woke her up with a stuffed Mickey! She loved him. She sucked on his nose for a loooong time! (They're best friends)

Here she is in line for It's a Small World. She was not impressed. While we were on the ride, she just wanted to run around and play, and since we were in a little boat type thing, that wasn't fun for us!

What's with all the pictures mom?!

After that, we were all winding down, and we decided to get her some ice cream! Mint chocolate chip! (Her mom and dad's favorite) Hers too I think!

Finally it was time for the parade. She was getting grumpy until it started. It was amazing. The characters were ALL interacting with her. (Her dad was taking the pictures and didn't get any of this) At one point she was picking her nose (her new favorite thing to do) and one of the characters from Pinocchio came up to her and picked his nose too! It was hilarious! 

Isn't this awesome! I love the castle in the background!

I have to say, I think she had one of the best birthdays of all time. I'm so glad it's over, but I'm sad she's growing up so fast!
This will be her last big party until she is in school and has friends! It was hard on me and her daddy. You live, and you learn. I wouldn't change a thing. <3
Happy first birthday baby girl!
I love you!

Bad blogger

Yep, that's me. I'm a bad blogger.

I have good weeks where I'll have 3 or 4 posts, and then I'll go a week or two with no posts at all.

I'm super busy planning A's birthday party (Two weeks from today btw! AHHH) along with work, cooking, cleaning, playing with a rambunctious toddler, blogging kind of gets pushed aside. ::Sad face::
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So here is a quick update;

My best friend and I are going to the Southern Women's Show today!! I went 3 years ago when we lived in Tennessee and LOVED it. (The S W S, not Tennessee, hence why we live in Florida now) I won the tickets from my favorite local radio station. Along with a Longaberger wallet, a purse from Macy's, and some perfume! I LOVE the way the perfume smells, so I will be running out of it quickly!!

Baby A can seriously walk now. She's trotting all over the house, chasing after our cat (which is hilarious) she kind of wobbles sometimes, it's super cute. She looks a lot like Dr. Frankenstein's monster though, which makes for some serious entertainment. :)
She started saying "Hi" It is SO cute. She has the sweetest little baby voice. I love it. I seriously can't believe how she is growing up so fast. She's on regular milk now, and eating real food, it blows my mind. Her birthday is 15 days from today. We're having her party the day before, and taking her to Disney on her actual birthday :) I hope she enjoys it!
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ETA:

The Southern Woman's Show has come and gone. We had a pretty good time. It was crowded and hot, but it was fun. We got a lot of swag, and ate more dip than any person ever should. I also got my wedding band cleaned, and it is soooo sparkly and shiny now. It's beautiful :)

Hope you all have a great weekend. And since I missed Wordless Wednesday....

Old school

Obsessions

So, I may be late, but I've jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. I honestly thought, meh it can't be as exciting as everyone says it is.

Ummm, ok. I was wrong. Like, really wrong. I've spent the last week of my life pinning amazing DIY's, foods I want to make, birthday party ideas....omigosh. I can't even describe the awesomeness that is pinterest. If you haven't already, check it out. Or don't, it will take over your life.

I've decided I'm going to learn how to cook via pinterest. (Not to mention the amaaaaaazing desserts I've seen....2 ingredient homemade butterfingers?! REALLY!?) Homemade Febreze, teeth whitener, dryer sheets, holiday decorations...the list goes on and on and on.
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This weekend was pretty epic. Saturday we spent the afternoon with my best friend in the world, and her boo and 2 handsome babes. They're 4 and 5 and it seems like just yesterday they were teeny, tiny babies. Time flies. We went to a park, and had planned to go to a pumpkin patch but it was really windy, and started raining. So those plans flew out the window. But it's ok, we got to spend time together, and it was amazing, and long over due. We've already made plans to get together again soon. Yay!
After we left them, we went to my grandparents and had the most delicious lunch (ribs & apple pie) I may have had seconds. We hung out with them for a couple of hours then headed to another friend's house to hang with him and his 2 year old son. The Mrs was working so we'll have to catch her next time ;)
After leaving home at 9 am, we finally got home around 7ish and we relaxed for the rest of the night. I guess I forgot to mention all of our friends/family live 1+ hours away from us. All in all, it was a good day. The baby got spend some much needed time with the fam, (and in a swing, which she loooooves) and she was happy all day even with only having two 15 minute naps.
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Today was full of laundry. We skipped church. (sorry God) It was rainy and disgusting out all.day.long.
I did about 6 loads of laundry, cleaned the entire house and played with the little one. It was a busy, but good day. Back to the ol' grind tomorrow. But I'm not complaining. House is back!!!! Woooo hooooo.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and hope your upcoming week it fabulous as well.

Oy, I'm a hot mess.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

First birthday!

Holy crap.

How can my little baby daughter's first birthday be coming up so soon?
Wasn't this picture taken, like, yesterday?!



And now she's talking, crawling, and walking. She has (almost) 7 teeth, loves to dance and chase our cat around the house. It's all gone by so fast.

I feel like I've been planning her party for months, but now that it's a month away, it seems like I waited too long to do a lot of things.

I've found the perfect outfit for her special day, (tutu included of course).
I'm trying to find the perfect cake and color scheme, and candy to match it all.
Dear God please grant me the strength and sanity I'll need to plan this party.

Wordless Wednesday

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday ....a little late

This kid will be walking in no time! 

Wordless Wednesday .... almost

(The day I went into labor, exactly 40 weeks)

Things my kid is loving right now

Just in case you were wondering, or needed some ideas...

Food:

    
   

Earth's Best is awesome baby food!


Toys:

   



She doesn't have that exact giraffe, but it's very similar.
She's not quite big enough to walk with the walker, but she loves playing with it!!

<3 Have a good weekend.

All pictures courtesy of Google Image

Newborn again?

That's what it seemed like I had last night. Not an 8 month old baby who sleeps through the night for 11 hour stretches....oh no, a brand new little, bitty baby that wanted to be held and rocked. Heaven forbid you put her down. As soon as her head hit the sheets she'd wake up and start crying again. I definitely don't miss those never ending nights.

God willing it was a one night thing. I think she's about to get more teeth, maybe that's the culprit. She's been gnawing on her hand like there's no tomorrow and I've never seen so much drool!! So gross. We call her Special Agent Grosso. (Those of you with kids can appreciate that!)

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We went to Ikea yesterday to look for ideas for a dining room table. Guess what?! We found one we liked, and we bought it! An added bonus, is was under our budget! WAY under our budget!

This photo doesn't really do it justice. (thanks ikea.com)  Underneath the glass top there's a little shelf area (kind of) made of cute little squares (which match our decor!) I'm not going to use it for storing napkins or magazines like the description calls for, we're going to put some big, wide bowl and then maybe a bamboo plant on top of the glass..... we'll see.
The chairs however, neither the hubs or myself are a fan of. We bought gray cushions to put on them, which makes them look a little better, but as soon as we find some chairs we like, we'll be replacing them.

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Not a whole lot happened this week/weekend. Cleaning, laundry, Ikea, grocery shopping today, and a little relaxing. We were going to check out a Church we were invited to by a colleague, but with the baby's sleepless night last night, we didn't quite make it. So, next Sunday it is.
And the weekend after that we'll be headed to Busch Gardens to spend the day with my dad and sister! I'm really excited because I haven't been in years. I think the last time the hubs and I went was 2006...? I'm not certain, but it's been a long time.
I'd also like to make it to the beach sometime soon, since we live....oh I don't know, half hour from the shore! I'm excited to take the little one since she's such a water baby already!

I hope you all have a safe and fantastic 4th!!
Enjoy your week!!

Oh, and one more thing.....17 days until BRITNEY SPEARS!!!!

Wordless Wednesday...a little early ;)

Happy Father's Day

Happy first Father's day to the most amazing dad.
We sure have one lucky baby girl!
























So much love <3

Wordless Wednesday

Animal Kingdom

Today the hubs and I took our little one to Animal Kingdom!

I had never been (neither had our daughter of course) and I was really looking forward to it!! We have a ton to do this weekend, and I wanted to make sure we fit this into our schedule!

So, we woke up at......wait for it......6AM! Yep, I'm serious. 6am on a Saturday. We had to go get some power steering fluid for our car (since when we bought it, it was practically bone dry. Assholes) So we drove about 20 miles in the opposite direction of where we needed to go to buy some. We get to the place and they fill up our power steering fluid, along with topping off all of the other fluids too! FOR FREE! They said if we're ever in town, swing by, they'll top everything off and wash it FOR FREE! I feel like we're members of some sort of elite club. It was pretty awesome! After that we went and filled up the gas tank, (got myself a sugar free redbull ((YUM)) ) and headed to Disney!!

They opened at 9, and we got there at about 10.....prepare yourself for picture overload...

Ok for some reason the order they were uploaded, it not the way they are showing.....ugh

Mt. Everest

Little Miss. So excited (but she doesn't know why!)

The Entrance

 Before the fun started!

The Tree of Life

HI MOM!

Super cute fake giraffe <3 

Love birds

Huge turtle 

Where we spent most of our time

So pretty!

Authentic African Man

My daughter, the people watcher

Daddy love

Swimming hippo!

Huge Gator!

Interesting upside down tree

Going on safari

Giraffe!

They were so close!

Elephant!!

White rhinos

Super excited post animal watching

African drummer

Tree of Life up close

Dinoland USA

So that was our day. We had an amazing time, I can't wait to go back when she's a little older and can really enjoy everything that Disney has to offer.

(BTW Mickey was no where to be found. So no picture with him today :(   )