Friday, August 29, 2014

A Fairytale Space

One of my favorite rooms in our apartment is Lola's. Actually it might be my all time favorite room. When we first moved in, we had an infestation of german roaches. It was freaky and my pregnant self got sent over the edge. I spent a good 2 weeks over at my moms house, afraid to step foot back into our new apartment.
We moved here a month before Lola was born, so I was itching to start the nesting process. Lola was going to have her own room and that excited the creative crazies going on in my head. Lola's room was a sanctuary of sorts. Mainly because during the extermination of the roaches, none creeped into her soon to be bedroom. Mother Nature was on my side, because Ryan and I were able to complete her bedroom before she arrived (little did we know, she wouldn't use the bedroom until she was 3 months old). New parents...


We sleep trained Lola the day she hit 3 months old, and she snuggled up in her crib and never thought twice about wanting to come back and sleep next to us. But even as the months went on, she had little interest with her bedroom. I suppose she was too little to really adventure in her very own space.

When I found out what I was having, after I bought an abundance of little girly clothes, I started brainstorming her bedroom layout. I've never really believed in "themes" for a room. I never liked the idea of it, so my house is sectioned by color scheme. I like being able to walk into each room and it be a different shade of the rainbow. So I started simple and became totally obsessed with the, "coral peach" color.
Every where I went I brought her color palette with me (garage sales, thrift stores, IKEA, Target, etc.) Pretty much everywhere, and I bought a mixture of pieces that sat in my old childhood bedroom until we moved into our bigger apartment.

And once we moved...I nested...

nested...

and nested some more.
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Each piece flowed wonderfully with the other, and it almost became this fairytale bedroom that I dreamt up. I even added some of my own personal touches (hand-sewn curtains and a dream catcher painting to hang above her crib).

Recently, Lola has a grown a fascination with her bedroom. I often catch her crawling in there, and she will play in there for hours, flipping through books or coloring. She's entering the exploring stage and it's so fun to peek around the corner and watch her discover this little space of her very own.  

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lola: 1 year, 1 Month

Okay.
So we made through the first year and I have to say it is at the very top of the list as one of my favorite years, it sits alongside my 8th grade year....sigh.
It was a challenge becoming a first time parent, but Lola made things as smooth as peanut butter. She slept through the night instantly and still do this very day sleeps 12 hours through. She loves ALL food groups, but subtract the banana. This makes meal times a breeze since she eats literally anything. Teething hasn't been AS bad as people describe it as and she still takes a 2 hour nap in the morning every day.

She has been our life saver as parents this last year. But we are moving on into the "toddler years," and all this bliss may soon come to an end when tantrums are a thing and her speed increases (aka walking...potentially baby jogs through the house).

Anywho, let's take a second to talk about Lola's 13th month.
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos
Dear Lola,

You are still crawling, but not any normal crawl...it's more of like a spider monkey escaping the zoo crawl. You get very set in your ways with things. You can balance and have walked on your own, but until the mood strikes you...crawling is the better form of transportation. You are totally weaned off of formula and your bottle. You drink whole milk like a champ twice a day and you are obsessed with water (thank goodness). You love your sippy cup, but are eager to learn to drink from an actually bottle of water, it might be your favorite source of entertainment. Speaking of favorites...oh my gosh you are obsessed with the movie: Frozen. You have it memorized and you dance different jigs to each song. You love music and everything about it. Any song can come on anywhere and you are bouncing and swaying in seconds, and sometimes you even like to sing along with your baby jibber jabber. Food is your friend, and you eat more veggies than mommy most days. You have a sophisticated palate (or...you just love to chow down). Mommy and Daddy bring you to the mall frequently to play in the kids zone and you adore it. We sit there for hours watching your connect with the other little ones, you just love other kids. We can't wait until you make some baby friends! You learned how to blow kisses recently and you still love to say "bah" when you are leaving anywhere. You have become very interested in books lately. We have a book shelf filled to the brim with your books and you literally will spend at least an hour of playtime, yanking each and everyone down and sorting through them. Then you move onto the bookcase in your bedroom. You get very quiet and concentrated and I love to just sit and watch you.
Lola, you're constant ability to make me smile is endless. These toddler years have just begun and I'm both scared and excited all at the same time. Who knew that could be possible, but it's all because of you.

Friday, August 15, 2014

32/52

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos *Bathtub Shenanigans.

31/52

Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos *A new way of coloring.

Flipping the Pages

I love to document everything.
That might be why I started this blog. Before this blog I had a livejournal, that I started back in the high school days. Every once in a while I will sneak into the past and read some of those whiny, "I hate my life, oh my gosh he broke up with me," posts..and I laugh and sometimes I even cry. Those years were so cruel sometimes, but they made me the person I am and sometimes I like to meet up with that old me, especially when I have questions about my life now.
Documenting those years was one of the best things I ever could have done, and I'm glad that I have stuck with this blog for a 9 whole months now! I will appreciate this later, I know it.

When Lola was born I took a lot of pictures, like too many most of the time, whether it be on my phone, or my camera, or sometimes jerking a phone out of a strangers hands to snap a quick photo....(no, that didn't actually happen). Photos are important, but so are words. So I decided to take snapshots of Lola on her monthly birthdays and write about the milestones it held within.
Each month I signed into Shutterfly, plopped the picture down onto the digital "book page," and typed away. As her birthday neared I typed what was left of the 12th month and shut the book and had it shipped.
Shutterfly is such a great website for pretty much their whole selection of goodies. In the past year, I've made three photobooks with them and there is never a disappointment. Not to mention, they always have coupons (especially right when you have a baby, they load you up with free photo books).
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Anywho, so the book arrived and I read it a bajillion times. I laughed and I cried and I couldn't help but long for those moments back, but I felt complete because they were right there, staring back at me in my lap. Each page held the most precious moments of her tiny life and all I had to do was turn a page and relive them over and over again. And someday she will go back and flip through the pages of her little self.
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Right then and there, was when I made the decision to keep documenting, not just my life here on this blog, but Lola's life written out on pages.
So this year I will be documenting her life through here, monthly, and by the end of June next year a new book of Lola's Life as a One Year Old will be shipped for me to laugh and cry over again...and cherish forever.

If you haven't seen Lola's First Year, here it is:

Monday, August 11, 2014

The Knights at the Rectangular Table

Why is sitting around a table of people you love so heartwarming?
Ever since I can remember, I sat at the table for dinner with my family. As I got a little older though I always wanted to branch out and go finish my dinner in my bedroom, in front of the TV or laptop. And when Ryan and I moved into together typically the place to dine was seated on the couch or our bed (back in the real old days, when we lived with roommates eek).
Not until becoming a parent did I realize how essential it is to have this time together. Sharing a dinner behind a table was such a huge staple in my childhood and I never understood why it was such a big deal. I think it may be because the action of sharing food with the people you love will always be the number one thing that brings you closer to them. It's also a break from the world for a bit. Everything is so fast pace most days and this small endeavor slows the clock a bit and forces us to rewind with one another.

When Ryan and I moved into our very first apartment together, we collected A LOT of odds and ends. Mostly from garage sales and big thrifting adventures. We even found a table in the midst of everything and we thought, "well, we have a dining room...so why not?" It was a decently sturdy piece of work with a coat of solid black paint (not stain, mind you) with iron black poles from legs. It was a stunner. It did come with two chairs though, so that was a score. I got super crafty and reupholstered the stained cushions and was quite proud of us for even having a dining room table to begin with.
Until, we never used it. Well, no...we DID use it just not for the food eating part. It was a catch all for groceries and bills, a table for doing late night homework, an extra counter top (have I mentioned how tiny Park Place's kitchens really are?), and my sewing and cutting table when I taught myself how to sew, OH and we must not forget, it was the cats favorite napping spot.

That table followed us to the apartment we are currently in, and I despised the thing and ONCE again never used it. We were ready for an improvement, and just in time because Lola was beginning to eat table foods, which would in turn mean she must eat the food from the table!
Ryan set to work and crafted my dream table, and I might have fallen in love with him a little bit more because of it. I love when my pinterest fantasties actually come true.
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So it took a while of adjusting to, and I sure did miss watching HGTV and chowing down on some grub, but the first night we sat down, all three of us at the table it was bliss. The TV was muted, our phones were somewhere else in the abyss and all we had was each other and our food, laughs, and empty bellies. We have made it a part of our week, every week to sit down at the table together at least 3 nights out of the week. This has also forced us to get back into a cooking routine, which is amazing because home cooked food will always win over take out.
 This table also brings back frequent memories of the last table. It still is a place that I use as a desk every once in a while when I don't feel like blogging in the bedroom, and the cats are in paradise since all three can basically fit on top for nap time now, and the catch all thing is pretty much a given....but it's wonderful and it's lovely how a piece of furniture can accomplish so many things.
Three cheers to conquering the mainstream routines of the folks in this day and age. I'm okay with living in a half old fashioned way once in a while :)

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Friday, August 8, 2014

Season of change

You know those months where the world is kind of just testing you?
July ended up being one of those months. I actually usually despise the month of August for reasons I have a hard time explaining. I think the brain frying heat has a lot to do with it, but mostly because it feels like time is at a stand still and my body and mind is overly preparing for the fall season (that I adore so much). So let's hope this year August treats me right after the pain staking July that was served to me.
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos All the blame shouldn't rest on the shoulders of poor July. One of my worst qualities is my struggle with adapting to change. Any form of change, I mean we are talking the slightest change in routine and I'm totally out of sorts.
I suppose that's why July was testing me, because we had to go through and are still in the process of going through lots of changes.

Lola turned one. Such a small number with a million complex new stages and milestones included. She is now eating real deal food and we cold turkey weaned her off of the bottle the day she hit a year old. Her teeth are FINALLY starting to pop out of no where, which results in extreme teething, which may have drove me bonkers a time or two.
I signed up for school. This is a really great change, and I'm more that ecstatic to be returning after this (much needed) year with Lola and becoming a mommy. But I'm feeling like I'm standing over the deepest end of the pool and so afraid to jump in, but I know once I jump, I will be all smiles. I think I'm stressing more over the anticipation than the actual going to school part. Just two more weeks.
Alone time with Ryan was put on hold. This was a biggie because I get so fearful when the relationships in my life alter in the slightest. I become this gigantic ball of worry and I lose myself. My mom came down with pneumonia in June, and that nasty infection lasted all the way through July. This meant a lot of stress about my mom and it compromised the alone time that Ryan and I reserved specially for the weekends (when my parents would watch Lola).
I think we really were slapped with the brutal hand of reality. For a whole year (give or take a few weekends) my parents would watch Lola every Saturday night. This time was so precious for us as a couple and we both cherished it. The whole month of July took that from us and we spent our Saturday nights in, watching a lot of Netflix. I went through a bad patch because I was worried we had ended up in a rut. Until I realized the circumstances. We are parents and things like this happen, and yes July was testing us as a couple and we came to the end of the rocky road and made it, together. Ultimately I realized we don't need to rely on Saturday night alone time together to keep our relationship out of this make believe rut. All it really takes is us being together, whether we are stuck at home glued to the couch or going out and exploring the world. It also means fighting through these struggles and challenges together, which makes things a little too much to handle at times, but ten time easier when I get to acquire, my best friend by my side.

As the end of July neared, things started to settle back down a bit around here. All the pieces started to fit again, but in a new way.
Our lives are filled with these tests. How would we ever know what our relationships and we as humans are capable of if it wasn't for months like these?

So I take it back July, but I still mildly hate you for the heat you drown us in every year.