New Year... New Hat

Marlow sporting her new "Harper the Hoot Owl Hat"!  Get yours at Etsy! Thank you Alice!

iPhone catch up!

I have no idea how to catch up on all the fun in December, especially since I didn't pull out the camera much.  However, I did get some iPhone photos!

We spent lot of days walking to the park with Bella to enjoy the cool breeze.

 We went to check out some Little Gym classes in our area.

We took some Christmas photos

Put up the tree

and other fun decorations.

Marlow's Christmas

I'm back!  I think my early New Year's resolution was to spend less time on the computer, but as much as I loved more time having fun and enjoying every treasured moment I'm really missing sharing my Marlow updates.

She's only days away from 10 months.

She's now mastered clapping!  She claps to her favorite songs like Pat-a-Cake and especially to show when she likes a certain food.  I think it's her signal that she's happy.  She's a complete parrot and keeps trying her best to say water.  The girl can't get enough of her water.  She also loves to fake cough.  If someone nearby coughs she thinks they're playing with her and just has to join in.  Crawling is down and she's been taking giant steps with some assistance.

We had the best time getting ready for Christmas and pulling out all the decorations.  I think she's going to love Christmas just like her momma.  We spent lots of time with family and friends this month.  I can't believe how fast it's flown by. 

Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa C

Christmas morning at our house

Christmas Day at my hubby's grandma.  There was quite a story on Christmas Day.  I had the most beautiful emerald green dress for her to wear that day.  As we left the house let's just say we had to turn around the car and wash the carseat before we could leave.  Marlow had to throw on what was packed in her diaper bag to make due.... but she didn't miss a thing!

Marlow update

I blink and boom our daughter is creeping up to 9 months. THREE months away from her first birthday.

Amazing.

My little sweetie continues to bring so much joy and excitement everyday. The most common reaction to Marlow is, "She's such a little lady." Which means she will refuse dresses as soon as she speak...or sooner. 

She's been exploring new foods like waffles, cheese, flax, kiwi... I'm beginning to run out of new things to try. Mostly, she just wants whatever is on our plates so that's pretty easy.

Still no crawling but the girl can roll, scoot, and stand. Yes stand. I think she may just skip crawling all together.

Her new "tricks" include rocking on her Tigger, recognizing her favorite songs and my absolute favorite.... staying clean while eating! Our playdate mommies find this her most impressive talent yet.
She also managed to sputter out the word book. So dada, mama and now book is her new vocabulary.

This is Marlow's first Christmas and although she loves new goodies I think she's going to go bananas over all the wrapping paper.

Speaking of Christmas... here are some photos we choosing from for our Christmas card.  Oh I love those little cheeks!!

 

 

Top Priority Inspiration

The order is merely by necessity.  Our current craft/exercise room is really my giant closet so if I'm organizing that it makes no sense to stuff things into our bedroom closet. I think I need to do these two simultaneously.  Plus, I'm on an Ebay/Craigslist selling kick so I figure I better go for the gusto and clear it all out.

Top Priority

Closet
CHALLENGE: I was recently pregnant and I no longer work although I plan to go back.  The problem is that the whole "toss if you haven't worn it in a year" doesn't apply when you were just pregnant. I also don't really know how much maternity to get rid of...just in case ;).  Same problem with work clothes. I have TONS of jewelry and shoes.  Half should be purged but the other half should be displayed beautifully and easy to find.  Our closet is huge and there is so much space that is not utilized.  MINIMIZE and ORGANIZE!!  I have no desire for bells and whistles here right now, just simple organization.

I absolutely love the jewelry case on the lower right hand.

Craft/Exercise Room
CHALLENGE: I'm not crafty but I like to collect craft items.  I am very into fitness so I must have a home for my giant treadmill, bench, and weights.  There is only a small window in the room and I want to use it to the most advantage.

I LOVE this color combo but my husband would never let me do lilac in any of the main rooms so this may be my only chance to use it.

Marlow's playroom/extra living room
CHALLENGE: It's easily viewed by guests and needs some interest, but it's a playroom so I'd like some whimsy.  I'm looking for a lived in, casual feel with natural textures and calming palette....but I'd also like it to transition well from her teal and pink nursery : / and the grey and lilac craft room..not sure how to achieve that yet.  It's an open area between the two rooms.  The biggest challenge is that my inspiration doesn't really go well with the rest of the house but I still love it and I'm working on a compromise of design.

The area has a pretty large window so I'd love this midnight blue in the room somehow. 

Completely in love with the natural textures here.  I absolutely envision a trunk of some sort in this type of wood for toys, extra seating or maybe even a coffee table.

Dining room
CHALLENGE: Working with the current wall color.  The size of the room makes more furniture difficult. There is no window. I really need items for the wall.

This is the current color wall color in the room which I don't love but I think I can work with it by adding some yellow/gold with white or green accents.

Phew... there.... all my ideas for the top priority items are finally out now it's time to get to work!

Back to Basics

8 months later.... let us return to our regular programming.

Update on the patio.... it's still in progress... the end.  It's just a little frustrating of a project to go into detail on. 

As the chilly weather and baby illness keeps up cooped inside, I'm beginning to get a little nutty over our decor plan.  My number one problem is that no room in the ENTIRE house is finished.  Every room has been started and every room is an ongoing project and every room is driving me nuts :).  Forgive my ongoing rant of how I plan to tackle this.  I feel like I'm on a diet and I have to tell someone to hold me accountable.

I'm the ultimate clutter collector.  I have everything against me.  I'm way too sentimental about possesions, I'm a perfectionist so if I can't do something exactly as I see it in my head then I let the fear keep me from even moving and I'm a bargain hunter/impulse buyer.  This is all a recipe for major disorganization.  So back to the drawing board I go.  First, I have to assess what we've completed, what's in progress, and what needs to be done.  Then I must re group and get my inspiration flowing again.....Then I must PURGE and maybe actually start a project.  Seriously if anyone has tips on finishing a room I would love to hear it.

I recently purchased the Domino Book of Decorating which I love!  The steps are so encouraging. 

Top Priority
Organize our closet
Organize my craft/exercise room
Set up Marlow's playroom/extra living room
Complete the dining room

Still on my radar...
Entryway - stripes/wallpaper accent, hooks, baskets, new rug
Living - lighting (tall lamp), basket or accent tables, hang art
Kitchen - light over island, chalkboard
Bath - finish bathroom vanities, new lighting
Office - reading chair, tall lighting, rug
Nursery - rug, shelf

One day we will...
Add wood floors
Add molding accents
Add a sofa and rug in our bedroom

Time Flies

I think we never really realize how swiftly the days seem to pass until you have a little one.  I mean I always thought things were moving quickly but now I have this visible evidence staring me in the face everyday.  I just cannot believe it.

Yesterday Marlow was having an unusually tough time getting to sleep.  I thank my lucky stars for my superstar sleeper but she just did not want to nap.  For the first time in a very very long time I held her until she fell asleep.  It was one of the most wonderful and treasured moments.  I couldn't put her down!!  I don't think I've held her sleeping since she was only a few weeks old.  I loved her sweet little face.

We had such a big weekend of milestones.  She's said mom about twice in the past few weeks but now she's officially screaming out for her momma.  It melts my heart :).  She's all prepped for Thanksgiving and is currently trying her luck at some turkey for lunch and dinner.  Her favorite is apple cranberry turkey. 

Life has been so full and exciting that I'm guilty of not taking enough time to relish it all. 

Costume Fun

Yesterday we made our way to the next Halloween Bash.  I think Halloween is shaping up to be Marlow's favorite holiday!  My little leopard was such a little cutie, she won a little best costume prize.

Teeth

Last weekend Marlow was unusually cranky for her grandparents visit.  I couldn't figure out what was going on with all her whining.  She's not much of a crier but the whining led me to think she was uncomfortable with something so I took a look in her mouth and there was a translucent little spot on her lower gums.  My mom confessed she felt around and thought she felt a tooth!

Sure enough... a few days later she has 2!!

Happy Marloween!

We've been on the go go go... Marlow had her first visit to the zoo with Daddy and I'm not sure who was more excited, her or her Dad!  We also spent some time visiting some local pumpkin patches and of course we hosted our very first costume party playdate with fun crafts.

I couldn't believe Marlow let me put this costume on her!

 Easy playdate snack of powdered donuts and green m&m's with decorator gel... so easy!

Upside down footprints made great little ghosts and were easy crafts for the kiddos! 

7 months!

I can't believe our little girl is growing so fast!

Marlow on a playdate with Baby Vivien! 

September Wrap Up

My sporadic blogging habit has got to stop!!  Forgive me for the enormous post ahead...

 

I recently spent nearly 5 hours cataloging all of my photos... ALL OF THEM!!  And if you're a stay at home mom, 5 solid hours is like a sparkly unicorn.  5 solid hours meant 2am bedtime. 

It's unbelieveable how many photos I have.  I think I have one of Marlow for every single day of her life.

I absolutely must become a regular blogger again so I can at least share all the joy!

For the sake of catching up... here's September in a nutshell.

Got a jumper to play with!

Had a playdate with cousin Noah

We tried on some costume possiblities.  Thank you Auntie Tammy for my little china doll ;).  Not sure Marlow was so thrilled, though.  Forgive the camera phone quality but I had to get a picture quick!  We do have a kitty cat back up costume. 

I keep saying I don't want Marlow to be like her neurotic momma.... My birthday was this month and I had 3 backup outfits for our night out.  I kept saying I don't want Marlow to be like that!!  But I realized we have 3 costumes for her just in case... at least she has 3 Halloween parties to attend, right?

Marlow continues to demonstrate her new big girl abilites to feed herself and attempt to pull up on furniture.  My overachiever thinks she can just skip over crawling or at least that's what I'm telling myself so that I don't become neurotic about milestones.

We spent some time with the great granparents.  Marlow's so lucky to have them!

Playtime!

Learned to roll the ball.

Marlow wore my old baptism dress for her special day.

Of course she slept through her big party with family, friends, food, and flowers!  The food was so tasty that everyone beat me to it before I could snap a photo...but enjoy the flowers!

 And of course our park playdates where Marlow discovered the bright green grass.