Baby Olivia: Be Still My Ovaries

My neighbors, Alex and Shelby, had a baby last month. A baby girl whom they named Olivia Rose.

She's perfect.

She has the cutest little nose and she makes my heart melt into a puddle on the ground every time I smell her. I love that baby. Love. Her.

Alex and Shelby know my deep love for newborn babies and so I was thrilled when they asked me to do Baby Olivia's newborn/one month photos. Thrilled.

I grabbed my next door neighbor Michelle, who works in a photography studio and together, we came up with some really sweet ideas for Baby Olivia's photo shoot.

These are some of my favorites from the shoot:

Whadya think?!? Isn't she just precious.

Makes me want to have 17 more!

That was a joke, Paul. You can breathe now:)

Facts of Life

No, this is not a post about the "birds and the bees."

Nor is it a post about an 80's television show.

This is a post about the facts of MY life today.

Fact #1: It's unbearably hot outside.

Fact #2: For some reason, I chose this day to work in my garden.

Fact #3: I also chose this day to watch Law and Order SVU on the internet instead of do laundry while my children were napping.

Fact #4: I smell like manure.

Fact #5: This has nothing to do with my dream of one day owning a horse and everything to do with the fact that the lawn guys spread fertilizer all over my yard last week...

and I worked in my garden today...

thus, I smell like manure.

Fact #6: I made more cupcakes today. And I ate two. But without frosting. So don't judge me.

Fact #7: Izzy dumped the entire contents of a water bottle onto one single spot on my carpet while I was working in the garden.

Fact #8: Water bottles have now been banned from my home. Forever. Don't even think about trying to enter this domain with a water bottle in hand. It could get ugly.

Fact #9: At exactly 5:24 pm today, I looked up at the clock on my desktop and realized that I had not even thought about what I was going to make for dinner.

Fact #10: We had spaghetti.

Fact #11: My neighbor brought me a fresh loaf of banana bread while I was giving the girls a bath and Izzy decided to strut her naked self down the stairs and give the neighbor quite a show.

Fact #12: I have wonderful neighbors who don't judge me by my children's behavior.

Fact #13: I'm tired. And I still smell like manure. Because I haven't had time to shower. And I should probably mop my floors before I shower, but in case you hadn't noticed the trend, today was not a day that I did anything I was "supposed" to.

And those my friends, are the facts of my life at this moment.

I'm off to shower.

And then mop.

Cuz I'm a rebel like that.

Baking...again

A crazy weekend awaits me.

A weekend of birthday parties, gym time, church picnics and hopefully a nap or two:)

Today?

Well, today I'm baking.

The girls are playing at friend's houses and it's just me and my Martha Stewart Kitchenaid Stand Mixer against the world.

We have 4 dozen cupcakes to make today in the flavors of White Chocolate Strawberry and Blueberry Vanilla.

Should be fun.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, full of cupcakes:)

Because well, who doesn't want a cupcake filled weekend?

I know I do ;)

Soundtrack of My Life

I love music.

I mean, I don't know many people who don't love music, so saying that sounds so cliché but still, I do love music.

I grew up around it. It's in my blood in a sense. My mother comes from a very musically talented family. My mom plays the piano like you would not believe, and she used to play the BANJO! How cute is that?!?

And everyone in her family has some kind of musical talent...or all of them.

My Dad's sister was a guitar player and, from what I hear, had an amazing voice. They say she really could have made it big, God rest her soul.

And even me. I started playing the piano very young (Heaven knows I can hardly play anymore...I know, I know Mom..."practice makes perfect") and I've always loved to sing. I don't know that I would call myself an über talented singer, but I don't notice a rush of canines when I open my mouth nor do I notice any disgruntled faces in the audience.

And I'm not really keen on being "amazing." As long as my girls keep asking me to sing them a song at night, I'd say I'm a successful singer.

And Paulie plays the guitar. It's what won me over. He played me a Dave Matthew's song sitting on a rock by the river at Yosemite. It was very romantic...very cheesy, but romantic just the same.

All that to say, that music speaks to me in a way that nothing else does. Words set in motion to melody. A melody that describes the depth and emotion and meaning to those words. It feels complete. It's like therapy for me.

Lately, I find myself in tears when I hear a song that speaks to me. It can be a song I've heard a bajillion times but suddenly, it takes on new meaning and becomes my life anthem in that moment.

And sometimes, in the mist of drying my eyes and recovering from my weepy session (trying to avoid the concerned looks of fellow drivers who've been watching me sob like a child at the stop light) I think to myself, "I should blog about this!"

But then I wonder if the songs that speak to me in such an intense way, would speak to you in the same way. Would my blogging about these particular songs just give you something to skim over and think, "Oh, that's sweet dear."

Or would they make you break down and sob the way the cause me to?!?

Well, let's find out, shall we?!?

-Watermark "Good For Me"

-Nichole Nordeman "Legacy"

-Nichole Nordeman "Every Season"

-Steven Curtis Chapman "Cinderella"

-John Mayer "Say"

Okay, and one more. This one really gets me...

I hope these songs spoke to you the way they do me.

I mean, I really hope you're in tears and sobbing hysterically,

cause that way, I won't feel like such a goober ;)

Award and Random Facts

Thank you so much to Amanda Jo at A Special Blend for the Versatile Blogger Award!

I love Amanda's blog! She's a thrifty, thoughtful chica with a fun sense of humor and I'm flattered to have been nominated by her!

But, as with most awards, this one comes with the responsibility of telling you 7 things about myself.

I'm pretty dern honest on this blog, but I'll try to think up 7 things I haven't already said.

Here it goes:

- Red Lobster is dead to me. It used to be my favorite place in the world, and then they served me shrimp that had not been deveined and it was gross. Yuck.

-I miss Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits in a big, bad way.

-I have a temper.

- I really need an entry way table. I'm not willing to spend more than $25 though and I don't mind putting in a little TLC.

-I registered last week for a half marathon in September.

-I can only run 3.5 miles at a time right now.

-I have about a bajillion books that I want to read this summer but I'm so obsessed with the show LOST that I fear I will never get to them.

-I really would like a cupcake right about now.

How's that for random facts?!?!

And now, I have to pass on this award to 7 other bloggers!

I'll go with:

Katie over at A Bushel and a Peck

Lisa at Little Loveables

Ashley over at Tales From Goshen

Momma Glo over at Under Her Wings

Charity at The Thrifty Designer

Kim over at Fresh Batch Jams

and

Amber over at Married Musings of a Clueless Newlywed.

Enjoy the award ladies! I can't wait to see your 7 random facts!

Fashion is in the Eye of the Beholder

I have girls.

Two very girly girls. Izzy hates to have dirty hands and she loves baby dolls. When she's wearing a pretty dress, she twirls. It's instinctive. I didn't teach her to twirl, she just does. She knows how to handle a pretty dress. She's a girl. She gives kisses on command and bats her big brown eyes at her daddy when she wants something. She's a natural at being all girl.

And so is Eva. Eva doesn't so much enjoy her baby dolls as much as her TAG books, but boy does she love dress up. She loves dress up and nail polish and make up, much to my great concern. She pretends to be a beautiful princess under a deep sleep and she'll ask me frequently to kiss her so she can wake up. And I don't mind being the handsome prince...it's better than being the evil villain, I suppose.

And she has her own style when it comes to dress-up. Although, if it's not a Princess Dress-up dress I'm not real sure I can call it dress-up as much as fashion.

Eva is a true Carrie Bradshaw when it comes to her clothing. She is daring, bold and cares not what is considered "conventional." A true fashionista!

She'll humor me in the mornings by allowing me to pick her out a boring (cute) top and some shorts but when she has a few minutes to herself in her room, she immediately strips down and changes into something a little more...exciting.

And she's definitely not matchy-matchy. Oh no. Socks don't need to match one another, shoes don't have to be on the right feet, and the outfit need not match the shoes. It's all about what makes you feel good and Eva gets that.

She stares Old Navy in the face and scoffs at it's "safeness." Eva knows that if you can't express yourself through your clothing, then why the heck wear any?!?

She's a true revolutionary in the fashion world.

Izzy and I? Well, we're fine with our Old Navy clearance rack finds. We don't mind matchy-matchy.

But we sure do love the anticipation of seeing what Eva will wear next!

NO time like the...hmmm, scratch that. There's just no time.

Hi.

I'm still here.

I'm crazy busy all the stinkin' time.

It's the season of life I'm in.

It's hard.

It's nuts.

It's rewarding.

It's abundant.

And I'm grateful.

Hope to be back next week :)