Halloween Costume

I know it is a little early to be thinking about Halloween, but last year I waited too long to find Eliza a costume and I had trouble finding something in her size that wasn't tacky or cheesy or off the charts expensive. I didn't want to repeat last year's mistake so I started looking this past weekend.



Eliza loves all of the Disney Princesses, so after some searching on Amazon, I found a couple of choices I thought that she would really like that wouldn't break the bank.

I showed her a precious Tinkerbell and Cinderella costume. I knew that she would she would just love them - WRONG. She has a mind of her own and she wanted to pick her own costume. She did pick a princess, but my blond hair, blue eyed little girl decided that she wanted to be . . . . . . . .

So we are now the proud owners of a Snow White costume!

Life With a Two Year Old: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Now that we are almost at the half way point of the Terrible Two's, I thought I would take a look at what life is really like with a two year old.

What is good about having a two year old?

1. She loves to give her Dad zurfuls at bedtime (blowing raspberries on your cheek )

2. She is becoming more and more independent . . . "Mama I do it myself!"

3. She will sit down and listen to a story. . . . .and she loves going to the library.

4. She is the funniest person I know - seriously, what a character!

5. Getting to talk with her - she always has plenty to say.

6. No more diapers! (we still do a pull-up for nap and over night).

7. She loves to sing while we are in the car. Lately her music of choice has been the Beatles.

8. She carries her dolls and animals around and hugs them close and sings to them :)

9. She wakes up in a good mood and can usually be heard on the monitor saying " Mommy! Come! I need to pee - pee!"

10. Her manners - she always says please and thank you .

11. Ponytails! She finally has hair!

12. Swimming - she loves to spend time in the pool and would stay in the water all day if we let her.

What is bad about having a two year old?

1. She hasn't quite figured out how to blow her own nose yet.

2. The I don't want to be in the shopping cart so I'm going to say I have to go potty game.

3. She's a finicky eater. One night she'll eat a ton of something and the next time she won't touch it. She hates vegetables and pretty much refuses to eat them.

4. She's getting to that I want to pick out my clothes and do everything for myself stage. Getting dressed in the morning is never a fast process any more.

5. The impending fear that she might have a potty accident in the car or in public (she hasn't yet though).

What is ugly about having a two year old?

1. The drama. There are occasions that require laying her head on the floor and screaming.

2. Princess is not good at sharing.

3. Hitting or throwing things because she is mad . . . .a few days ago poor Bob got hit in the head with her tea pot.

4. A demanding nature . . . . Many sentences begin with " I WANT . . . ."

5. The back seat of my car. It is like it has been sandblasted with animal cracker particles.

6. BM accidents- gross.

Alex's Birthday Party

Eliza's friend Alex recently celebrated his 2nd birthday with a bash at the Children's Museum. We had never been there before and so we were very excited to go and check it out.

My favorite thing about this museum was that they have a "Toddlers Only" room. It is just for those who are 3 and under. Eliza was entertained the entire time we were there and I didn't have to worry about her getting trampled by bigger kids.

After exploring the museum it was time for Eliza's favorite part of any party . . . CUPCAKES!!!

I think the birthday boy was enjoying his cupcake too.

Happy Birthday Alex! We had a great time at your party - thanks for inviting us.

Cousins

While in El Paso for my grandmother's funeral, I was grateful that I was able to spend time with my all of my extended family. We are all scattered about the country, so even though the circumstances that brought together were quite sad, it was nice to see every one and catch up on their lives.




Nicole loves to take pictures with her Aunt Mare.

A.J. spent a great deal of time chasing after Joe. This little boy is always on the go.

My grandfather with two of his great grandchildren - Addi and her new little brother Brooks.

Aunt Courtney giving Brooks some love.

The adorable Miss Norah.

Addi and her her sweet momma Mandee.

I think Nicole really enjoyed her Shirley Temple.

Kristin giving snuggling with a very sleepy Brooks.

Brother and sister in the midst of a very serious checker game.

My cousin Amy shared the news with all of us that the newest cousin would be making a debut in December! Congrats Amy and Mark!

A Change of Heart

My main reason for starting this blog was to create a living history of our lives so that when Eliza is older she could go back and read it. I knew that I would include the funny and silly events and possibly even some of the mundane as well. I planned to include big events like birthdays and holidays, however I made a contentious decision to exclude things that might make us feel sad. However I have recently had a change of heart. I realized that excluding these things from my blog doesn't keep us from feeling sad.

On July 2nd my sweet Grandma, Mary, passed away. My heart was truly broken and sad. I grew up in the same town as my grandmother and I have so many warm and comforting memories I will always hold dear in my heart. Unfortunately I know that Eliza will not remember the times she spent with my Grandma, so I wanted to make sure that I chronicled those visits for her.

Eliza made her first visit to El Paso when she was just 7 weeks old. She and I spent 3 days with my grandparents and my Grandmother wanted to do nothing more than to sit and hold her precious great granddaughter. Her favorite phrase (always) was "Give me that baby!"

Eliza was a very good while we were visiting and was never really fussy, so I can't tell you how many times my grandmother said, "Jenny, that is the best baby I have ever seen."

However she was worried that the headband and bow I put on Eliza was squeezing her brain.





Last summer, Eliza and I were able to take another trip to El Paso. This time Aunt Mare, Grammy and Granddaddy joined us. We had a great time and my grandparents were in awe of how much Eliza had grown and how mobile (and fast) she was.


My favorite memory from this trip is Eliza and my grandmother playing with a puzzle as we waited for our lunch at Steak Burger. They were both having a grand time.

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together. . .there is something you must always remember. . . you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. . . but the most important thing is, even if we're apart . . . I'll always be with you.”

-from Winnie the Pooh

by A. A. Milne

Where O' Where Has My Summer Gone?

Well my summer is officially over. I head back to work on Monday. Even though I still in a state of mourning, I take comfort in the fact that I had a terrific summer.

We had a fabulous vacation in Colorado and I was able to spend quality time with my family. I enjoyed spending time with Eliza during the day and being able to do cool stuff like going to weekly story time at the library. I also enjoyed having a little time to myself while Eliza went to daycare two days a week.

Now that my summer is over, I thought I would share some of the projects I accomplished this summer. Unfortunately I did not take "before" pictures - where was my head?

1. I painted the master bathroom.

I LOVE how spacious this bathroom is, however I was not loving the baby blue paint that the previous owner had selected. I think the new color looks great. (Just in case you are wondering, the paint is by Behr and it is called Safari Vest.)

2. I painted the T.V. cabinet in the family room.

This cabinet was previously a light colored wood that really didn't go with our decor. A couple of coats of sleek black paint (Beluga by Behr) and we are good to go.

3. I reupholstered Eliza's chair


This was my first and probably last attempt at reupholstering furniture. I bought this little chair for Eliza last summer and she loves it but I can not begin to describe how incredibly gross and stained this little chair had become.


4. I purchased and painted a side table



We had a empty space at the top of stairs/hallway and this little table works perfectly. I bought it at Goodwill for $10 dollars and spray painted Heritage Red. I love it!

5. I created a mini chalk board for the kitchen

I really wanted a little chalk board for my kitchen - not really sure why. I got inspired at Hobby Lobby when I found this framed mirror in the clearance pile for $2.00. I painted the frame with the left over paint form the table and painted the mirror with chalk board paint.

I had planned on doing a lot of blogging this summer but that didn't really happen - at least now you know why!

Before and After

I recently found a blog called "Better After". This is a blog that features projects done by ordinary average non professional people and the transformations are astonishing. After seeing what is possible, I felt inspired.

I recently purchased this book case at a garage sale (another new obsession) and I knew it had potential to be perfect for Eliza's room.

So after some sanding, priming and painting. . . . here is my attempt at "Better After"!

I think it turned out pretty cute and now Eliza has a place to put all of her books. If you are looking to be inspired and need some decorating ideas . . . click here to check out Better After.

San Antonio Zoo

We ended our vacation with a stop over in the Hill Country to visit Grammy for a few days. Stephen had a conference to attend in Austin, so Eliza and I had some serious "Girl Time" with Grammy. We originally thought we would take Eliza to Sea World, but after some thought we decided the zoo would be a better fit for us.

The San Antonio Zoo was really wonderful and I hope we can go back soon - maybe when it is not so hot!

For some reason we didn't take very many pictures but we sure had a great time. Eliza is still talking about all the animals she saw with Grammy.

Favorite Photo Recreated

The first time we took Eliza to Colorado, she was only 4 months old. I know she doesn't remember it but she sure did have a good time. Luckily Stephen and I have fantastic memories of that trip and one of our all time favorite pictures of Eliza was snapped while playing out in the yard.

While we were in Colorado this summer, Stephen decided that we should try to recreate this picture. Not exactly the same but cute none the less.