Father's Day

Well, hello there, blog enthusiasts. Long time no see!
I'm making a comeback. I promise.
Here's the thing. Since getting my iPad last July, I haven't been using my laptop very much. And I hate blogging on my iPad. So no laptop = no blogging.
Anywho... I'm back, if only for this one post. At least it's a good one.

Nate -
Happy Father's Day! I hope you've had a great day - from finishing your kitchen to spending all day with Paisley to playing soccer (and scoring! and winning!) - I hope it's been perfect.
I just want to take a quick second to say thanks.
Thanks for being the absolute best daddy to our sweet baby girl. She adores you.
Thanks for working hard so I can stay home with her - you don't know how much this means to me.
Thanks for loving us both unconditionally.
Thanks for putting up with me and my crazy (this includes, but is not limited to, driving 15 minutes to Chili's just to get one small container of sauce that they forgot to put in our order and going to 3 different Braum's (I don't know how to make this plural?) to get me a chocolate mix while I was pregnant.).
Thanks for reading books, being silly and dancing with Paisley.
Thanks for letting me be me and for loving me in all of my sweatpants, bun and no-makeup glory.
Thanks for taking care of us - there is not one thing we need other than you.

You are the most important thing in my life. I love you more than you will ever know, and I know Paisley feels the same way. When Paisley was born, we had been together 8 years and I didn't think I could love you any more than I already did. Seeing you with her when she was just minutes old - my love for you exploded. Paisley is the luckiest little girl in the whole world. There isn't one thing I could ask for that you don't already provide. You are everything I have ever wanted, and everything Paisley needs.
I know I don't say thank you enough. Know that I will never feel like you understand how much we need and love you. Know that we are forever grateful for you.



And just a few of my favorite early pictures ...

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in my life - especially my dad (who I am fairly certain will never see this, as I am sure he doesn't even know what a blog is) and my father in law (for raising Nathan to be the perfect father/husband)! I love you both!!

Photo February - I. Am. Done.

I know I said I was going to post each picture on the correct day for the rest of the month, but 2 nights ago Paisley got sick so all my attention has been on keeping her happy and comfy. I did take the pictures each day, I just didn't get to post them.

Photo February, day 29 (happy leap day!): Something You're Listening To

Usually during the day P and I listen to Pandora all day (either John Mayer radio or Toddler Tunes). Since she was sick, I put on some Band of Horses to keep the mood mellow - no shaking her sillies out or hokey pokeying. BOH is one of my very favorite bands - if you don't know them, you're missing out. Big time.


Photo February, day 28: Money

Just the usual coins in the bottom of my purse. No matter how hard I try, I cant keep the coins in my wallet.

So there you have it. The most boring month-in-pictures ever documented. Ever. To those of you doing Photo March, I wish you luck.

Something I Ate Today

Photo February, day 27: Something I Ate Today

Oreo crust. Cookies and cream ice cream. Hot fudge.

Night

Photo February, day 26: Night

This is my view each night when I crawl into bed. A black kitty, curled up on my electric blanket, and my kindle. What more can you ask for? 

Photo February x 4

My promise to you: I will post the remaining pictures each day until the end of the month (I realize it is only 4 days worth, but it's the little things...)

Photo February, day 25: Green

This is the print on the glider in my living room. While shopping for baby furniture, we came across these amazing gliders and I kind of had to have one... If you've sat in it, you know why. I spent many nights in that chair during the first few weeks of Paisley's life. It's green and wild and doesn't match a thing in my house, but I think that's what makes it awesome.


Photo February, day 24: Inside Your Bathroom Cabinet

I bet you thought the cabinet under my sink would be a lot messier, didn't you? Ha! (don't worry, this is only one half of it, and there is plenty of stuff hiding behind this stuff)


Photo February, day 23: Your Shoes

I got some new kicks last weekend and I really love them. Not much else to say about them.


Photo February, day 22: Where You Work

Lame picture, but it was a late evening at Baby Gap doing markdowns. I absolutely love my job. It's fun, the people are great and the clothes... well, you know. The clothes are great.

Photo February x 3 !

Photo February, day 21: A Favorite Photo of You

Yes, I realize it says "photo" and not "photos," but this is my blog so I make the rules here. I couldn't pick from these two. They're both on my fridge and they're both great. They were taken on graduation day (which is why Nate looks like a graduate), way back in 2009. I love the black and white one for the obvious exposure reasons (it was taken with a film camera), and the bottom one is us in front of our house in Stillwater. Photo credit goes to D for both of these.

Photo February, day 20: Handwriting

My husband has awesome handwriting. He went to school for Landscape Architecture and they teach you to write this way. His handwriting is better than mine (unless I'm trying really, really hard), so he is always stuck with addressing any and all cards, sorry babe.

Photo February, day 19: Something You Hate to Do

I hate unloading the dishwasher. Like, really, really hate it. I have recently learned that my mom also hates this chore, which would explain why it was always given to us as kids. Veerrrry sneaky, mom. I would much rather wash all of the dishes by hand (which I do a lot of the time), but when I tried to initiate the "hand washing only" rule, he said no. It's not like he unloads it anyway! I'm kidding, of course. He loves to unload it. And I'm sure as soon as Paisley can handle it, she will love it, too.

Photo February... playing catch up.

Photo February, day 18: Drink

I love wine and tequila, I'll drink vodka and scotch, I can tolerate a beer, but my heart will always be full of gin. I more than love gin. I really, really love it (that's a lot, guys!). My default drink, one that I can drink at any given time with any food, in any setting. It's very versatile. It's easy and it's yummy. Most importantly, I can't drink it without thinking of one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world, the very fabulous Jamie, who left me for a beautiful life in Colorado (she says she reads my blog every now and then... we'll see! call me if you love gin, Jamie!). Anywho. That's it. 

Photo February, day 17: Time

One day while shopping, I came across a super cool giant old school timer. The sand is bright green and it's super cool. It lives on my fireplace and I love it. (I made it black and white because I took this picture late in the evening and the light in my living room is awful and orange (not that I don't love orange...) but there was no saving the picture)

Photo February, day 16: Something New

 

I bought this ball from Baby Gap for $1.50! Always good deals to be found at Baby Gap. 

Anatomy Lesson

Hey, Paisley!

Show me your...

Head! 

Hair!!

Ears!

Nose!!

Mouth!

Teeth!!

Tongue!

Fingers!

Hand!

Leg!!

Foot!!

Toes!!

(Yes, I realize that she is pointing to the same thing for both "toes" and "foot." If you ask her to show you her toes, she usually wiggles them, but decided to point instead...)

Tummy!

Phone

Photo February, day 15: Phone

Lame, I know. This is one of the phones at Baby Gap. I don't have a cool phone at home to take a picture of. Again, I know it's lame, but at least I made it super artsy by making it black and white!

Heart

Photo February, day 14: Heart

My littlest Valentine, in my favorite jammies.

Photo February - I'm Back!

Photo February, Day 8: Sun

This is obviously NOT the sun. There was no sun to be seen in Edmond (or Tulsa) that day. It is actually a street light in downtown Tulsa. Kind of looks like the sun. Kind of a sucky, terrible picture :/

Photo February, Day 9: Front Door

This is the front door at Pancho Villa in Branson. It was a cute little mexican restaurant that was recommended by a local. He called it Pancho Villa, like villa... village... 2 Ls, the American way. We aren't quite sure if he was right, or if it was Villa, the Spanish way, like the guy (Pancho Villa). Either way, it was good food and good margaritas. Another terrible picture - it was dark outside and I was using my phone.

Photo February, Day 10: Self Portrait

I am not a fan of self portraits. Other people are good at them and don't look like losers. I, for one, look like a loser in them. Am I just supposed to smile? Do I make the duck lips that seem to be so popular on facebook? Anywho, this is as "self portraity" as I get.

Photo February, Day 11: Makes You Happy

These are my new cowboy boots. Until Saturday, they belonged to my grandpa. He and my grandma are downsizing into an assisted living apartment (apartment?) and asked all their kids and grandkids to come over and see if we liked/needed/wanted anything that isn't going with them. I told D to try them on, but they were too small for him, so I put them on and got me some boots! They are a mens 6 1/2 and are a little big, but they are perfect and super comfy. I love, love, love them and I am so happy to have them.

Photo February, Day 12: Inside Your Closet

Hangers. There's not much in my closet that is worth showing.

Photo February, Day 13: Blue
 

No long explanation on this one. I covered these letters in yarn and they are currently on my fireplace until someone hangs a shelf up for me. They are super cool and I love the colors. The yarn came from Baby Gap - it was used for our holiday decorations.

Button

Photo February, day 7: Button

Dwelling Spaces (the most rockin' store in Tulsa - if you haven't been there, GO!) sells these awesome buttons, and every time I go, I simply must get one. I think at any holiday, I receive at least one, usually from D. He shares my appreciation for these buttons. I'm glad. I have them everywhere, but these are on my camera bag.
p.s. I know I am a day late posting this. I took the picture yesterday, I swear. I'm no cheater. I worked last night and when I got home, P was wide awake. When she finally fell asleep around 11:30, I had no desire to post the picture. And heads up, Nate and I are going out of town today and I am not taking my laptop. If I can figure out how to upload pictures onto my blog from my iPad, I'll gladly post. I make no promises though. I do promise that I will take each picture on the correct day. Again, I'm no cheater.

Dinner

Photo February, day 6: Dinner

I actually made a good dinner (spaghetti, green beans, garlic bread, cinnamon apples) tonight, buuuut... I was too distracted by the 18 month old who kept signing "more" and cramming bread into her mouth to take a picture of it. I kind of enjoyed the bowl of popcorn more than the spaghetti (hey, it came with m&ms and tequila) anyway. The drink I was enjoying was a Paloma -tequila, grapefruit soda and lime juice with a salted rim.

10 a.m.

Photo February, day 5: 10 a.m

I got this clock from Nate's grandmother, and it's one of my favorite things in my room.

Stranger

Photo February, Day 4: Stranger

This very nice girl was making Nate's cup of warm milk caramel macchiato at BerriLiscious in Edmond. (yes, it is a frozen yogurt place, not a coffee shop)

Today's picture was supposed to be of a stranger, and I chickened out and snuck one in while she turned to work on the drink. 

Hands

Photo February, Day 3: Hands

Paisley and I played a late night game of peek-a-boo. I love, love, LOVE those sweet little hands!

Words

Photo February, Day 2: Words

These wise words came from a fortune cookie from P.F. Changs a few weeks ago. I feel like I haven't gotten a good fortune in a very long time, so I was pretty happy to find this. 

Photo February - My View

Hola!
Where have you all been!?! I, of course, have been right here, blogging my heart out for the past 2 months. Ha! I'm kidding. I haven't been here in a looong time. But I'm here now. And I'm not leaving for a while! (maybe?)

A couple of weeks ago, a friend had the brilliant idea to have a blog-a-thon. I think I immediately said no... because, well, who are we kidding? It has been in the back of my mind since then, making me wonder if it was something I could actually do. This morning while I was on Pinterest, I came across an idea....

Now, I know I have tried the "photo a day challenge" before. I obviously did not finish (unless it was just a 3 month challenge - if that's the case, I nailed it!), but I actually think I can do this one. The main reason I quit last year was because I was bored/tired of thinking of things to take pictures of. I'm going to give it a shot, so bear with me.

Photo February, take 1: My View

(Nothing exciting, but since I decided to do this about an hour ago, this is what I have to work with)

This is my view tonight, after reading book after book after book. Nate was gone all day, so I had Miss P to myself all day. By 8:30, I was done trying to keep her occupied. She thought a few stories before bed was a good idea, so I obliged and read her each book she brought me.

So, there you have it. Day 1 - My View: a tired mommy's attempt to keep baby happy (and quiet) at bedtime