Bumper Pad Back On!!!!

So we had a scare this weekend with Allie-Ann getting her leg caught in the slats of her crib. IT WAS AWFUL!!! And I didn't think we were going to get her leg free, she was losing it and so was I. But, we did, thank goodness and she was fine, but mommy was not. I immediately got her old bumper pad out, washed it, and placed it back on her crib. I asked Allie-Ann if she wanted a "BIG Girl Bed" thinking this could solve the crib issue but she promptly told me, "NO, BIG GIRL BED!" She LOVES her crib, and we haven't had one episode of her trying to get out. Sooooooo, I had no other choice but to put her bumper pad back on; am I regressing or what? But I feel better knowing that she won't have another experience of getting her leg stuck. We will be moving to a "Big Girl Bed" soon, but I'm tickled that she still wants to be in the crib; makes me think that she's not ready to grow up just yet.




She just loves her crib and was thrilled when she saw the bumper pad again, not that I think she even remembered them.

Trust me when I tell you...

that I know these blueberry muffins look like death, but let me tell you,...these are the "BEST" darn blueberry muffins I have ever made. I had another "Martha Stewart" moment the other day and decided I would make Allie-Ann some blueberry muffins for breakfast, needless to say they came out looking like this....



In my despair, I just knew they were ruined, which marks another disastrous moment in the baking department but as soon as I spooned one out they looked like this....



I was drooling and so was Allie-Ann. They were DELICIOUS!! The only thing is that they weighed about 5 pounds each so after eating just one I was done for the day.

On another note, I went to my first ever parent/teacher orientation last night for Allie-Ann's preschool. It was a surreal moment to finally be the parent in this situation. I think Allie-Ann is going to love her room and her two teachers. They were even talking about the curriculum...a curriculum for a 12-23month old classroom??? Hummm, that should be interesting. I'm hoping they have some excellent lessons on helping mommy leave the room. :-) More pictures to come on Allie-Ann's first day of "schoo" as she calls it.

My Giraffe Buckets and Puff Balls

Here's the latest on my preparation for Allie-Ann's party.


I think Allie-Ann likes the tissue puff balls, check out her expression. These are going to hang in the trees.

Giraffe Themed BDAY for Allie-Ann, Phase 1

So I'm working on Allie-Ann's Big number 2 birthday and I have centered it around a "Giraffe Theme" since she is in love with the creature. I'm working hard trying to come up with a nifty, creative idea for the cake, decorations, food, etc., but, honestly folks, there is NOTHING out there. So I'm having to be extra creative in my planning. I did find some giraffe print napkins at Party City (which isn't my favorite place in the world, because they thrive off generic party ideas and make a fortune on it) but I saw the napkins online and had to see if they carried them and they did, which by-the-way were HALF off!! I love finding deals, it's my hobby these days. So last night I wrapped all my Eco-friendly spoons with the giraffe napkin and I'm going to place a giraffe in the center of the bow for decoration. I also found some cheap yellow buckets ($1) and I'm going to decorate those as well with ribbon and a giraffe somehow on the front. My party favors are as followed:
**I found an idea from a magazine on making apple pie pops made from a leaf cutter. YEAH, we will see how that goes.
**Pretzel sticks dipped in green chocolate (Used to resemble something a giraffe would nibble on????!!!)
**Peanuts
**Rice krispy treats cut out from a giraffe cookie cutter...Yeah, we will see how that goes as well.

The problem is, my vision out weighs my own capabilities. Why do I even feel that I have to go to the extreme measures in throwing the BEST BDay for my little girl when she's not going to remember a thing. I guess this is what my mom did for me and it's what I'm going to do for Allie-Ann. I actually LOVE the planning even though it's going to be a small BDay with family. But what the heck, I'm going to have fun doing it....I hope! Stay tuned...

*This is Phase 1..the bucket is missing the ribbon and giraffe for the front. But, I still think it's super cute especially when I added green raffia at the bottom of the bucket to resemble grass.

Park Day and Getting Ready for Preschool

We took Allie-Ann to the park this morning to get some energy out and as I sat there watching her slide down the slide on her own as suggested.... "Mommy, stand away", it made me think back to the days when I had to hold her to go down the slide. I hear it all the time about how time goes by but really it's so true as I see my little girl braving all the slides on her own. I had to find pictures to reminisce on the days of dependence and realize that my baby is slowing growing up. With her approaching 2 year birthday, we are very blessed to see how much she has grown. I can't believe that in another week I will be taking her to "Preschool." How did this happen so quickly? But I'm not going to give in and buy her a backpack, I'm just not ready for that yet. But I did buy these cute labels for her sippy cups, I love them!! Have a great weekend blog readers!!

Aren't these adorable?! I know I could have just used a rubber band, but I'm such a sucker for cuteness!!

Martha Stewart Wannabe Gone Wrong...

So I tried to bake sugar cookies from scratch with the help of one energetic toddler and it went all wrong. From the moment that I found Allie-Ann digging her hand in the flour bowl and then immediately putting it in her mouth, I knew we were in trouble. But I pressed on, in hopes of, in the end, having some scrumptious sugar cookies for my sweet hubby when he came home from his first day back at work. It didn't happen!! IT WAS A DISASTER!!!! I don't really know how it all came to be that I was breaking the cookies apart with my spatula only to find that I had about 10 edible cookies out of 32 previously on the baking sheets. Oh, my....I'm not cut out to be Martha Stewart and I admire all those crafty, competent bakers out there, I'm obviously not one of them. The only positive note was that Allie-Ann LOVED the taste of the cookies and Kyle found humor when he walked through the door.

The end result, no need to let them cool on the cooling rack...
The destruction zone...do not enter....
My cookies when I pulled them out of the oven...if someone can figure out my error, I would love to hear it.

Museum Day

Last Friday I took Allie-Ann to the State Museum for a fun mommy/daughter day out. Kyle started back at work and we had an entire day and most of the night together. So to beat the heat we searched for an indoor activity and the museum was the place to be. It was totally deserted, we basically had the place to ourselves. Even though Allie-Ann is not old enough to listen to me go on and on about how the Native Americans came to be, she had fun running around calling the Mammoth an Elephant and the Glyptodon a turtle. She was so cute. Her favorite room, however, was the discovery center which was filled with blocks, books, a tree house, space ship center and bridge, among other things. This was her education for the day and we were just as happy to be in the AC playing with blocks.

Inside the makeshift space ship. It was so cute because there was a red button that when she pushed it, it started a count down and Allie-Ann counted with it by saying, "Ten, six, three, two, one.....GO!" She's working on her numbers but it's very hard to do them backwards.

hummmm, should I go check on why the dinosaur doesn't have any skin????

She had to do this, to do.....
this, dig for dinosaur bones.

Wow, that's a big tree house. This is the only shots I get of Allie-Ann these days.
See what I mean..
This was taken at a surprise birthday party for my cousin who turned 30. Happy B-Day Chad! Great fun, they had a live band with food and drinks. If only we had a babysitter for that night!!

One month away from being 2!!!

Our little girl is going to be 2 in another month!! I can't believe it and what's worse is I haven't even begun to think about party preparations. All I know is that she is going to have a "Giraffe" themed birthday. Allie-Ann is not interested in Barbies, tea sets, or dollies, she just likes animals, animals, animals, especially giraffes. She can already decipher an aardvark from an anteater, go figure...So what better way to celebrate her birthday than with a giraffe theme. The only problem I'm having is thinking about how to make a "Giraffe" cake. I want to make her cake this year, I ordered one last year from an official cake designer but thought, "what the heck, I can do this." So, I'm going to make her cake and I have somewhat of a plan, but it's going to take a lot of practice runs. I've also made her invitations, pictured below. I think it's great that I spent, $.00 on these cards. I just found the clipart and had card stock already, with the ribbons and envelopes. Score! We are also in search for her birthday gift this year which will be her very own TRIKE!!! I'm so excited about giving this gift to my daughter since I remember my own Radio Flyer Trike experiences growing up. We are going old school with our trike, no plastic stuff that they have out now.
At 23 months, Allie-Ann has grown so much. I love the fact that I can now carry somewhat of a conversation with her. She love routines and each morning when I come in she says, "Change diaper mommy, and bow in hair." Too funny! We are working on the potty training, it's hit and miss but she is going to the froggy potty and sitting but with no action but at least she is attempting. We will continue with this for now. Allie-Ann will also start preschool in a couple weeks, which will surely be an exciting and emotional time. But more to come on that event later. Here are some pictures of her at 23 months.


Allie-Ann's invitations!!

Beach Trip 2010 over...

and I feel as if I need another vacation after this vacation. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time, and it's getting easier with Allie-Ann but it still is EXHAUSTING!! I guess the heat didn't help matters with hauling all the thing we needed for the daily beach trips in the morning and afternoons. Plus, Allie-Ann was so wound up from all the stimulation from the beach that most days she refused a nap, which resulted in very tired parents by the end of the evening. There was so much going on at Kiawah and plenty of activities that kept us quite busy the entire time. It was one of the best summer trips here yet. I know with age and swimming abilities Allie-Ann will enjoy herself even more but I fear that she will just swim off with the dolphins, she's so fearless. We took her out in the waves and she wanted me to let her go.....she said, "No Hands Mommy" referring to me holding her. What a daredevil we have, she just loves the water! So here are the last pictures of our trip, enjoy.

Okay, okay..so I wouldn't have taken this picture if there were really alligators in the pond behind her but it was all clear!!!


On one of the many boardwalks in Kiawah








Can I get one of these but in pink, please?

All God's creatures have a purpose, even if they do sting...