Friday, September 21, 2012

Baby Be Blessed Dolls

Just saw the cutest, CUTEST, soft dolls available for purchase through a sweet little company called, Baby Be Blessed.  You can customize your little doll in everything from hair to eyes to skin color to fabric for a dress.  But the best part is, each little doll comes with a Bible verse stitched on her (or his) belly.  These are PRECIOUS.  Absolutely precious..

I can think of so many little ones who would adore a little dolly like this... and especially one in particular who has her first birthday is around the corner..  :)

Check out their website:

http://www.babybeblesseddolls.com/

I have included some pictures of their dolls:












Tuesday, September 11, 2012

30 Before 30 Follow Up

Here we go.  The original list.  And the results.  I think I'd give myself a B-... 

1. Bake a homemade triple layer cake. YES! Three lemon layers with lemon icing.












2. Drink a shot of espresso. YES! Okay, I managed three good sips.  But, Jarod was still proud.












3. Watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. YES!  I had them DVR-ed, so I watched a few days late.  But it happened.

4. Bike the Frisco Highline Trail - 70 miles. No :(

5. Watch the "Babies" Documentary. YES!  I am still in shock over this.

6. Enjoy a candle lit dinner with the Hubs. No :(  Hopefully this happens soon, seriously.

7. Read "Emma" by Jane Austen. Yes.  Sort of.  I bought the book, and am still reading it.. not yet finished.










8. Watch the movie "Jaws". Yes!! I really liked it... except that ending scene of man vs. fish got a little long.

9. Sew a cloth flag-banner for Charlie Ann's room. No.  Darn it.

10. Wear galoshes. No.  It never rained... (excuse)

11. Wear red lipstick in public. No. 

12. Get a facial. YES! I did this little one with friends... then my sweet husband got me the real deal for my birthday.. wow, spa day.  AWESOME.












13. Paint alphabet letters for a friend's new baby. No.

14. Make mango salsa. Yup!












15. Write a love poem. No.. wrote a love letter.. does that count?

16. French braid my own hair. Yes!  And I was even feeling snappy about it, so I did both sides.  Impressive.












17. Take Charlie Ann and Jarod to the farm (my grandparents old house). No :(

18. Paint a live park scene on sight. No.

19. Throw change in a fountain. No! So easy... was even driving by that big fountain in Chicago and told Jarod we needed stop for such this occasion, but then we got distracted by an air show and looking for parking.  Shame.

20. Write myself a letter to read when I turn 31. No.  

21. Make homemade peach ice cream. No.

22. Say "hello" in 30 languages. Yes! Bonjour!

23. Bird watch. Yes!

24. Tour the Smallin Civil War Cave. No.

25. Play Gin Rummy. No.

26. Paint using watercolors. No.

27. Use the nice camera to photograph my "30 Before 30". Kind of... 

28. Knit a scarf. No.

29. Make an origami bird. Nope.

30. Buy and read a People Magazine. Yes!


Uh oh.  I only managed 12 out of 30.  So sad.  Better start on my 31 before 31 soon!

10 Months

Ten months?  This means we are too, too near Charlie Ann's first birthday.  How in the world does time move so fast?

This past month has been kinda sporadic, full of ups and downs, traveling and family/friend visits.  I didn't take as many photos either :(.  Charlie Ann is not one to sit still long, so I have to snag opportune times to make photo memories (unlike when she was smaller, and would just lay still :)

Food:  I am still making all of Charlie Ann's baby food and I love it.  It is one of my most favorite jobs as a mom.  And one of these days I will blog about the fun process...  Meanwhile, the new foods she had this month were: broccoli, cauliflower, plums, tahini butter, spinach, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, Cheerios, pineapple and green peas.  Charlie Ann is definitely a little cheese head, as she loves cheese the most.  This month we started finger foods.. breaking off little bits and putting them on the tray.  She is surprisingly pretty good at her little pincer grasp.

First taste of Cheerios!

Sleep: Charlie Ann gets another gold medal for sleeping this month.  She does two, two hour (or more) naps a day, and still the 12-13 hours at night.  I think that I am noticing a trend in the last week, however.  It seems that her morning nap is growing shorter, and her afternoon is lengthening.  Wondering if this is part of the move to losing that morning nap?  Also, this is embarrassing.. I finally stopped swaddling this month :/ I know, I know.  It wasn't tight, more to keep her in a warm blanket than anything.  But I switched to a darling little sleep sack from A&A that has made the transition super easy.  
(After a nap)

Play: Charlie Ann is a very busy, busy girl.  She has one giant toy (Learning Home Playset) by Fisher Price that she adores.  I could probably toss everything else and she would be fine.  Ha. 


Charlie Ann is also really into her Ikea Stacking Cups (especially at the pool) and books.  Wow, you could read to her ALL day.  Her favorite book this month is the California 5 book (baby feliz) that EVERY new baby in California gets.  It's in Spanish and English and it's about puppies.  It's a touch and feel book.  She is thrilled with it and likes to turn the pages by herself. 
(In this picture you can see the Puppy book and her Stackers)

Clothes: She is growing, growing, growing.  Charlie Ann can fit in a few select 9 month things (given the style and brand), but it's much safer to say she is in 12mon clothes all around.  Hence, the swimming photo below.  I could no long stretch that little 6-9mon swimsuit up and over her shoulders any longer.. so she swam in a onesie :)  We also moved to size 3 Pampers.  Although, they are too big still.  We could probably squeeze a few more weeks out of 2's.. but oh well :)

This is just a funny photo from the pool over Labor Day Weekend.  These photos were probably a minute and a half apart.  And during that short time span we crossed into the "late for nap" realm.  Oops.

Charlie Ann and I are still in Missouri for another few weeks while we wait for our house to close in New York.  We had an outing with Grandma to the Farmer's Market over the weekend.


A little cousin time with AJ.. and playing dress up with the babies...

 This is how to keep a child that is crawling, but not yet pulling up contained:

 Charlie Ann and I have really missed Daddy this month and cant wait to celebrate her 11th month with him!