Baby girl, you are so serious. I can do so many things to try to make you smile, but if you are in this serious mood, this is all I get. I love you for how real you are. You do what makes you happy and that makes me happy. You go girl. Don't feel like smiling? That's okay. This fierce look will suffice. You're gorgeous anyways.  Love,Your Mama

rain, rain, don't go away

We are enjoying the different weather here in Mississippi. This was right after the big storm blew through. Hayden had a heck of a time with the puddles :) More pictures on that to come...

Picture perfect

In a mama's eyes at least :)

Our two in a half day drive to Mississippi. They were all angels!! Yes, Garit was, too. ;)

Day #2

 

 I will be posting more tomorrow in between baking pies and cookies!

22 months, already

Hayden turned 22 months yesterday. My baby is really growing up. I remember when I would tell Garit how I couldn't wait for her to sit up on her own. Then it was to stand. Then walk. Then run. Then color. Then communicate. All this has happened in less than 2 years. It's too fast. If I could hold on to the baby years for a tad bit longer with my baby girl, I would be one happy mama. Bailey, you can stay small for as long as you'd like. I'm not rushing one second of your growing up. I've realized how fast it really does fly by.

 
Baby girl, you love to cook as much as your mommy! You reminded me to check on the soup atleast 15 times tonight..."souuuup!" We would go to the stove and check on it and stir it to make sure it wasn't burning. :0) My lil assistant.

Oops

I got really caught up with life. Seriously, the month of October flew right by me. I'll fill you in on all the awesome details over the next few posts.

A happier moment from ms bailey...although we are teething like a mad man at the moment. :(

Senior, kinda

I had so much fun with a gorgeous girl today. Not only is she gorgeous on the outside, she's just as beautiful on the inside. How do I know this? Because she's my awesome sister. And she's not a senior. Actually, she's only 15.  Dad, don't kill me.

Which one is your favorite?

my five kids tug at my heart

 I actually have 5 kids, didn't you know? 2 human kids and 3 fur kids. 

 

This is Dalilah& Lorelai. Baby D is her short name, the one in front. She is 4 years young (I think) I was saying 2 years for about 2 years...so 4 years actually sounds about right. HA! The lil lady behind her is named Baby L for short. She will be 3 in April. How I know this is we got her while I was pregnant with Hayden. Boy, I was kinda foolish. This was when Mr didn't know how to say no to me. He learned quickly though, when I brought home a cat from the shelter about 2 weeks later. HA. He said hell no and told me to take it back. Keep in mind, I was pregnant and my fiance told me no. For the very first time. Not cool. I made him take the kitty back because I couldn't stop crying for it's poor soul. & because he said no. haha

 

Then there is duke. Our chocolate lab. We got him before baby L but after baby D, & before returned kitty. So yes, we got two dogs while we were newly pregnant, when we already had one very spoiled baby D. My heart has so much room for animals...and children. I can picture myself with 5 of each. I'm halfway there, y'all! ;)

lucky duck

I love this photo for so many reasons...you can see where Hayden gets her curls from.

kale has taken over my life

I'm about a week into eating vegan. It's kinda amazing. Sure, I have to deal with the complaints of a husband when he discovers there is no meat on his plate...or when he wants to get ice cream and I object (although he is still able to eat whatever his heart desires, I have held my ground well).

Today I made some of my own "kale krunchies"...but in my oven! 

I made sure the kale was dry and tore them into bite-sized pieces and placed them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drizzled them with olive oil and some sea salt (I actually put WAY too much sea salt on. Not even sure I'll use any next time.) Since I've cut out dairy completely, I can taste more. The flavors are there. Salt is definitely not needed like it was eating pre-vegan.

So, I put them in the oven at 350 F for 10 minutes. These turned out to be a bit browner than I'd like them to be (you notice I said brown, not burnt? lol) But they were still edible. Just had a little bit of a burnt popcorn taste to them. Lesson learned. I'll put it in for 7 minutes next time and go from there.

Here is the finished product...although with half of them already eaten by the time I realized "crap I need to take a picture first". Yep, they were that good.  

oh, this is a good life

Every morning I wake up to my girls. One resting next to my breast and the other jabbering and sometimes if I'm lucky a little singing, through the monitor.

I was able to play around with some picture taking yesterday :) these were my results with 10 minutes of playing around. She gets so darn fussy, so quick.

Every day I get to play with Hayden. She gets it now. It's amazing. The simplest things make her smile.  There is this look I give her, kinda like a peek-a-boo look, like I'm peering from behind something, but I'm not [laughs] and omgosh, it gets her smile going. It's followed by squeals and a high pitched maaaa-meeee! Greatest sound ever. I can't help but smile and keep doing it. Over and over. Until she's almost in tears from laughing.

You would never think this girl laughs because I can never get her to smile on camera. Once she sees the camera out, she bolts for anything that she can hide behind.  That's okay. My little monkey.
 

Bailey smiles. Regularly. She's 25 days today. She only smiles when we are coo-ing with her or when I give her Eskimo kisses. It melts my heart and literally brings tears to my eyes. Her smile is magic.

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Despite having hard moments sometimes. Despite being oh so very tired. Despite having some baby blues. I am so very happy. So very thankful for every day. So blessed. I recognize this and the fact that I have an amazing life. Amazing family. Amazing friends.

inspired

Isn't this amazing? My heart is fluttering and a tiny part of me is so happy I haven't officially tied the not yet. Definitely inspiring and it totally makes me wish I was there celebrating with them. 

check out the rest of the photos here

little toes make me happy

70's bell bottoms do, too. Did you know that's a fall trend this year? My obsession with style blogs told me so.

Hello Kitty tattoos makes Hayden happy.

two photos, two weeks

I'm trying to define my style, not only in clothing but with my photography as well. Here is a snap shot I was able to grab really quick after a diaper change.

I love the softness of the second one. But the first is more my style. Which do you prefer?