Christmas 2013: Adylee's second Christmas

So it's been a while since I last made a post and decided that I would like to try to start this up again. Not only for updates on Adylee but also to maybe be able to get out some of my thoughts that jumble around in my head! 

Anyways!!! Christmas was recently (duh) so I thought that posting what miss Adylee Marie got for Christmas would be a great way to get back into the blogging world! So here we go :) 

Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve when her Mimi and Papa handed out the traditional Christmas Eve pjs 

Then on Christmas Day is when the fun began! First up was Christmas Day at my house with my parents and boy was she spoiled rotten! Santa brought lots as did mommy, Mimi/papa, titi and tio! From Santa came her princess chair, Minnie Mouse, an outfit, hello kitty pjs, puzzle, Cinderellas pet pumpkin (such a cute story behind this!!!), rapunzel and Flynn little people, Barbie DVD, fisher price laugh n learn chair, sofia the first puzzle mat, a Cinderella wand, Cinderella socks, pack of socks, Minnie Mouse wand, m&ms, purse, care bear book, laugh and learn sis puppy, Minnie Mouse book, piano princess book, links to play with and her fisher price vanity! Wow that's a lot!!! 

Then from her Mimi and papa came her little people princess castle which she absolutely loves!!! 

Mommy got her a sofia the first ball pit! 

Then came her Tio (uncle) and aunt Kelly! They added to her little people collection with the little people Ariel carriage 

Then her titi (aunt) got her the matching sofa of her princess chair 

Her second Christmas was at her grandma and grandpas house. Daddy had surprised us and came into town so that was one of her gifts from him. He also bought her something that we got today. But from her grandma and grandpa she got lots of Minnie Mouse things! They had decided to do a theme and got her nothing but Minnie Mouse which she also loves besides sofia the first. Included in this theme was an umbrella stroller, towel with Minnie wash cloth, two sets of pjs, Minnie outfit, an overnight bag, medium sized Minnie with a blanket, and a Minnie Mouse hair dryer set. 

From her aunt dawn and uncle nick she got the Snow White cottage to add to her little people collection 

Then her uncle jim got her a cute little monkey 

And her uncle Shawn and aunt Alyssa got her a slumber party Minnie, mini my little pony and a dollar to add to her piggy bank. 

Then today, her daddy sent me some money and told me to get her something that she would love. So I decided to add to her little people collection! She got belle and Prince Adam and the Klip Klop stable! 

Oh and not to mention all the stuff that the church and one of my parents got her for Christmas as well!!! And she still has one gift left from one of her teachers! 

Needless to say miss Adylee was a spoiled rotten girl this Christmas! She enjoyed every single minute of it though. I was so excited for Christmas with her this year since she could open gifts and understand a little more! Next year will be ten times more fun! I am so thankful for what everyone has given her!!!

Being More Organized...

Recently, I decided to become more organized with my life. Mainly, getting a planner and writing stuff down. I can't even tell you how many times I forgot an appointment, what time I had to be at work, if Adylee had her medicine or not, etc. So I decided to go to Wal-Mart today and buy a planner. I had always used one for school to remember assignments but I never thought I could use one for my life now until I saw a fellow blogger (hell0ashleyy) using one. I would love something better than just your typical planner but with money being tight right now this is what I had to go with! So far it's been doing the trick so I can't complain! 

This is the outside of my planner. Pretty simple and standard. And of course my pen for it is cheetah. Yes, I am that lame that I have a pen I use solely for my planner. 

My favorite part of the whole planner is that it has this really great inspirational quotes at the beginning of each month. I love that they put that in there. 

Like I said, it's pretty standard as far as planners go but it's helped me out a whole lot. I completely forgot I had a birthday party this weekend until one of my co-workers reminded me so I had to write it down in case I blanked on it again. It's just the little things but it serves it's purpose. 

I definitely recommend using a planner if you are a scatter brain like me. Haha ;)  

Adylee's First Birthday Party: Diva Turns One

Adylees birthday party was on the 5th and we had an absolute blast! She had so much fun and got lots of new toys and some clothes too!

She was definitely the diva for the day! We had lots of fun playing with friends and family all afternoon until it was time for presents and cake! 

She absolutely hated the smash cake part. I don't know if it was the icing, everyone watching her or that she is still hat boring a double ear infection. But she made faces and cried till I washed her up. But her cake was gorgeous!!!

Her favorite toys from her party would have to be her kitchen from me and her fourwheeler from my aunt. She loves them and plays with them everyday. She even goes to the door and points to it wanting us to take her out on her fourwheeler.

Adylees first birthday party was a complete success! It was my first time ever throwing a party so I was very nervous but it went smoothly. I wish her dad could've been there, of course, but things don't always work out the way you want them to. 

It's hard to believe that she is now a peddler still. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. It's only been a week ;) 

You're gonna do great things, I already know...

Since Adylee has turned one I have been thinking about the life that I want her to live. I obviously want nothing but the absolute best for her but I know that her life isn't going to perfect. Because face it, no one's is. Even the celebrities go through trials and tribulations that are much deeper than who they were spotted with this weekend at the club.

I just want Adylee to grow up knowing that she is loved unconditionally. I sometimes get this feeling of failure because things didn't work out like they should have with her dad. I'm not 100% blamess in our relationship but most of the issues did come from him. I gave it my all and it just wasn't enough. You can't change someone who doesn't want to change. And he didn't care to change nor want my help. I chose to walk away because of Adylee. She deserved so much more than that. She deserved to be in a house full of smiles, laughter and most importantly love. 

I want Adylee to be an independent and a strong woman. That no dream is too big or too impossible for her to achieve. She has been my anchor throughout this past year and I know that one day I will have to be that for her and that's the day I look forward too. I want to be able to give her guidance and tell her what the right path may be but I am also going to let her fall down and get back up again. 

I know that she is going to do great things in her life she just has that quality about her. I can't wait to watch her grow into the person she is meant to become. 

12 Month Update: My now 1 year old

As I sit here writing this, I am in tears. I seriously can't believe that my little newborn baby is now a one year old. Where did the time go? I feel like just yesterday I gave birth to this amazing miracle who changed my world the minute she let out her first cry. When they laid her head on my chest, I instantly knew what unconditional love was and as soon as I looked into her eyes I knew that my life was never going to be the same. I was a different person from that second on. This little helpless human being would now depend on me to bathe, feed, change, and teach her how to become an amazing woman. 

I am so grateful to be her mom. That God chose me to be her teacher and guide her through this crazy, mixed up life. I feel like she was given to me to show me how life can change in a minute but how it's always for the better. I would not trade a single minute of this last year for anything. I learned so much about myself, my daughter, and the person I want her to be as well as the person I want to be. Even though it was not the easiest year by any means, it was still a great one. As Lee Brice has says in his song, "I wouldn't trade a single day for a hundred years the other way." 

Every single day is a blessing to me. Especially because of all the issues that her and I went through during my pregnancy and labor. I will always say that she is my miracle baby. She survived things that she probably shouldn't have. She is perfect in every single way. I could not imagine not having her in my life. I can't even remember who I was before I had her. 

Now that it's just me and her I have vowed to myself and to her that I will make sure she has every single thing she needs and wants. She will get the best of everything and then some. But most importantly, I will love her unconditionally. I don't ever want her to feel that she is not loved in any way because she is. I love her more than I love anything in this world. She's given me more than she knows. 

Today we also went to the dr and she got shots :( but she was a trooper through them! She's officially off the Prevacid for her acid reflux! Doctor said she was growing and developing right on track. Sadly she has an ear infection so she couldn't get her shots but once her fever goes away then I can take her in to get them. Other than that she was perfect! 

After her doctors appointment, we met my mom for lunch. She loves her Nana. My mom had wanted to spend the day with her but she couldn't take off so we decided lunch would be better. We had a great time and then made our way down to the mall for some mommy & daughter time at Build A Bear where she made her own bear named Lovebug!  She absolutely loves her.  We also hit up The Children's Place where we picked up some cheetah boots and a onesie for when it starts getting cooler. 

After that, we went to pick up her first birthday pictures (some are in this post) and then we went up home where we had a cupcake for her birthday and opened up a few gifts from Mommy as well as Nana and Papa. 

She got mega blocks that came with a cart from me. Nana and Papa got her the Sofia the First talking doll. She's loving her toys as you can see! Haha. The best ones are to come when she has her birthday party!!! 

Adylee is 100% off the bottle as of a couple days ago! My goal to get off the bottle by one was achieved! She's on whole milk now and loves it! We are still taking a pacifier and I don't plan on breaking that anytime soon unless she starts to do that herself. By 2 though she will be off it completely. 

Now onto some facts about my princess:

-Is wearing a size 4-4.5 in shoes but slowly growing into a 5

-Wears a size 12-18 month in clothing depending on brand

-Loves anything that has music

-Loves balls

-Is a total momma's girl

-Has been saying some new words or rather variations of what should be words haha. Such as, "down" and "thank you"

-Weighs 22 lbs and 7 oz 

-Is 29 and 3/4" tall

-Her head circumference is 18"

-Loves it when you scare her or pretend to chase her

-Decided to call my mom "MiMi" instead of Nana like we have been telling her to say

-Has been very attached to her pacifier and her lovey lately

-Is sleeping in her own room now so the co-sleeping has been cut down to a bare minimum.

-She's been falling asleep in her crib by herself more lately rather than falling asleep with me and then moving her to the crib 

-Is now going to daycare full time and loves it! 

-She can blow kisses now

This little girls smile is all I need to brighten up my day. She's all I need. I am so thankful for all the help I've gotten along the way this year. I wouldn't have been able to do it without it. Now starts the fun part of raising a child! My little baby is officially a one year old and a toddler. She's no longer an infant. She's becoming such a big girl and I am so proud of her. I have truly been blessed beyond belief. It can only get better from here on out! 

When she says "mama" I melt....

It's so sad that I have to be a single mom to Adylee since her father decided to remove himself from our lives. But I know that it's only for the best. She knows who loves her and who provides for her. She's my best friend. When I hear her say "mama" at 3 am I can't help but melt into pieces. She needs me. That's when I feel the unconditional love. No matter how much money I make, what I did that day or what I couldn't buy her....she still loves me and she always will. 

Nursery Theme Idea!

I have decided to change Adylee's nursery theme because we are starting a new chapter in our lives this week and it's time to take out the old and start with the new. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out a cute new theme for her that doesn't involve animal print because I want her to have something new and fresh obviously. 

Then I came across this on Pintrest....

And I decided that I had to do a pink and navy theme that has anchors incorporated  Basically a nautical theme but I'm not going to be doing a lot of the fish aspects. Just mainly doing anchors and adding in a few whales. Lots of stripes, chevron and polka dots though!

I will be painting one wall a navy blue and maybe do it half pink as well. I wanna try and replace knobs on her furniture to look something like the below picture.

I'm going to mod podge outlet covers to look something like this:

And lots more navy and pink with the nautical accents. I can't wait to start bringing this idea together after her birthday party. It's been a long time coming for us to start over fresh and new. I have recently become obsessed with anchors and really want to have one of her murals be the anchor that Carter's had on their shirt because I am in love with that design. I plan on also getting an anchor tattooed on me somewhere. Adylee is my anchor and it's only fitting that she now have a theme to express that. 

Planning Adylee's First Birthday!!

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what I should write next because I want to keep up with this blog more than I have been. So I decided to write a little one about some of the plans I have for miss Adylee's first birthday party that is coming up in just a few weeks.

Her theme was probably the hardest to pick! I had originally wanted to go with cheetah and pink but with the way I wanted to cheetah to look being nearly impossible to find I settled for something a little more Adylee. 

So I picked the one above!! It says "Diva's First Birthday." Which is 100% Adylee and it has both zebra and cheetah. Not to mention that black and pink are my favorite color combination. :)

I am not going to get every single thing in this picture because I do wanna try and save some money on the decorations so I have decided to buy and make some things myself as well as add in a few things. I will be getting everything pink and black to match the theme as well as throwing in the zebra

I plan on making my own happy birthday banner out of card stock, my own collage using mod podge in case I am not able to order the newborn to 1 year photo banner that I want, and my own chalkboard print that will have facts about Adylee on it. As well as making tissue paper pom poms!

One thing I am really excited about doing that I have not seen done before at any of the parties I have gone to is taking a soup can and decorating it to house your silverware for the party. It's so innovative and cheap!

As you may have seen in my other post, I made her tutu for her birthday outfit. 

In addition to this, she will have a black onesie that will have a zebra 1 and have her name underneath in a hot pink/neon. Once I get the picture from the lady making it off etsy I will post :)

I also had a birthday candle made for her that will go on her smash cake. It was hand painted to match her theme but the cheetah side to it since most of the decorations will be zebra print or just pink.

Now onto her cake! I have decided that I won't be doing the traditional cake and smash cake combo. Instead I am having one of my co-workers make her smash cake out of fondant which will be zebra print. Then I will be baking cupcakes and putting hot pink and black frosting on them. Because not everyone eats cake but they do eat cupcakes!

Food wise we're just going to be doing finger foods for the kids like popcorn chicken and for the adults I'm going to have cuban sandwiches. Sides are going to be pasta salad and some fruits and veggies. In addition to that, I'm gonna make graham crackers dipped in chocolate and pink sprinkles for the kids to snack on. I will also be making the zebra & pink cookies that go around on Pintrest alot. Both will be something like what I have pictured below that I got from Pintrest.

Goody bags I am just going to have a candy bar station set up that'll have baby and kid friendly stuff along with a few things for the adults. I'm not going to go all out on goody bags because most of the time you just end up throwing half of the stuff out. The candy will also be like what is pictured above. Something that will go with her theme.

As you can see, everything is going to be pink, black & zebra! Some of our favorite things! I am so excited to start getting everything in order since we only have 3 weeks until her birthday party! I can't wait. It's going to be so much fun decorating and making these things because what I make can last her for a while and can also go into her nursery if I don't decide to change it haha.