Movember & Dog Bearding

I'm pretty sure just about everyone under the sun has heard of Movember or No Shave November at this point. For the entire month of November, men around the US refrain from shaving to raise awareness for men's health. The folks at DogVacay wanted the pups to be able to get in on the action, so they've asked Addie Jane and myself to participate.

Now, I don't know if you're familiar with dog bearding or not, but if you aren't...OMG, check it out. Seriously, some of them make me laugh til I cry. So when I asked my lovely husband for assistance in creating one of these dog bearding photos with Miss Addison, he thought it was so funny he wanted to do it himself. Guys...I don't think Arsen has ever been excited to participate in my blogging world before, so I decided to let him have this one.
Umm. Have you ever seen anything more hilarious? I didn't think so.

So by now you all are well aware how much I love my sweet Addie, and are equally aware that I have a hard time finding people I trust to watch her when we leave town and have to leave her behind. In the past I've done exhaustive Google searches to try and find a place with good reviews that looked clean and homey. Not an easy task. Luckily, those days are over! Now it's as easy as clicking on over to dogvacay.com and searching by your area and the dates you need a sitter. Seriously, easiest thing ever. All my local Dallas people, there are TONS of options for us! There is a description from the owner, all the info you need, and reviews from previous customers. I can guarantee the next time I can't take my sweet girl with me, I will most definitely be using DogVacay!

Thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. I  hope you're all enjoying a wonderful day filled with delicious food, family and friends, and all of the things you are thankful for. We have a fun filled weekend ahead of us seeing A's family and mine, and we'll be heading off to Oklahoma this afternoon after a meal at his sister's house. I know I've said it a million times, but I absolutely love this time of the year. I love spending time with family that I don't get to see that often, and if I'm being honest, I love the excuse to eat a ton of yummy food with no regard to calories or health :)

This year I'm feeling especially thankful, and I wish I could just freeze time for a second and enjoy all of the amazing things I am currently blessed with. Here are just a few of the things I'm oh so grateful for.

My husband. 
A and I have been together for more than five years now, and I'm pretty sure things are getting better and better with time. Of course we have our ups and downs, but we make it a point to work on our relationship and to talk about any issues that may arise. He is my best friend in the world, and I am so incredibly happy that he's the man I get to spend the rest of my days with.

My Grayson.
This little baby has changed my life in more ways than I ever thought possible. I never knew I could love someone so much...it is absolutely indescribable. He makes me laugh every day with his silly little personality, and he smothers me with hugs and kisses all day long. My heart could burst with love for this little guy, and I'm so blessed to be his mama.

My Addie.
This sweet pup taught me what it was like to put someone else's needs above my own. She was my first "baby", and I love her more than any doggie should be loved. I am so attached to her that I panic any time I think about her someday not being with me. She's slightly crazy, but she's my favorite girl in the whole world.

My parents.
The older I get the more appreciative I am for having the parents that I have. They were insanely protective when I was growing up, but now I totally get it. And now that I'm grown, I honestly see them both more as friends than parents.

My home.
I feel so lucky that A and I were able to buy a home so early in our lives together. Over the last couple of years we have truly turned it into a cozy little place that's perfect for our family. I love it here!

My friends.
I have some of the best friends a girl could ask for. They're spread out all over the place and I don't get to see them often, but whenever we get together it's like no time at all has passed. Love those girls!

My "job".
To say that I feel lucky to be a stay at home mom is a huge understatement. I absolutely love spending all of my time with Grayson, teaching him new things and witnessing everything that he does. It was totally unexpected that I would get the chance to stay home with him, so I think I'm all the more grateful to be here.

My Blog Friends!
I seriously am so thankful for each and every one of you. Those of you who consistently comment have come to feel like friends of mine, and I love keeping up with all of you on your blogs as well. It's crazy to me how we all share so much of our lives with perfect strangers, and then that can end up resulting in some really special friendships. I only hope that someday I get the chance to meet some of you in "real" life!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Have a wonderful day!!!

Just For Laughs

I have this horrible habit of finding hilarious things on the internet, reading them quietly to myself, and then laughing uncontrollably out loud for all to hear. I'm betting if you asked Arsen my top 5 most annoying traits, that one would make the list. I personally think it's quite charming, but whatevs.

I'm pretty sure the thing that gets me most worked up are the autocorrect fails. Years ago I discovered Damn You Autocorrect, and I would literally spend hours laughing until tears were rolling down my face. Once I get started, it's all over. I can't reel it back in. I think by now about 50% of the autocorrect things going around are fake, but you can tell some are pretty genuine, because who can make this stuff up? Another good one is Texts From Last Night. Pure hilarity.

I also spend a good amount of time roaming around Pinterest looking for this stuff. Seriously, there are some clever people in this world. I mean, I'm not really funny enough to come up with stuff on my own, but I can certainly appreciate their wit. And when I see all of these funny little e-cards that you see everywhere, I'm constantly thinking Oh my God, exactly. It's like people are in my head, I tell you.

And then sometimes there are just completely random things that make me laugh way too hard for no reason whatsoever. Those might be my favorite of all.

These are just a few of my favorites. I seriously just sit here and giggle when I read them. So Happy Wednesday....I hope they make you laugh too :)

Babies Babies Babies

So, apparently now is the time to get pregnant if you're a friend of mine. Just within the last month or so three of my really good girlfriends have told me they're expecting. It will be the second child for all of them, and they all have varying age differences between their first and the baby to be. I absolutely do not have baby fever. Nope, nada, not at all. BUT, it does have me thinking....when will we be ready for baby #2?

I am a complete psycho, because I am pretty convinced that I could never love another baby as much as I love Grayson. I'm afraid that if I have another one they will know they aren't as loved and they will develop problems and grow to hate me. I'm afraid that Grayson will hate the new baby because they will take away the (ungodly amounts of) attention he is used to. I'm afraid poor Addie will be forgotten altogether because not only will I have one, but TWO, actual human babies I have to care for.

At the same time, I know I want another baby. Actually, I know I want two (or three) more babies.  I loved being pregnant. I loved having a teeny tiny cuddly newborn. I love having a fun, adorable growing baby boy. I want to do it all again. And again. And again....

When I think about things logically, I think probably when G is about two I'll be ready to start trying. Or maybe around my 30th birthday, which would make him 1 1/2. But then I think ohmygod that's so soon! I want to spoil my little baby as long as possible before I bring in another baby to steal his spotlight! Buuuuut......if he's older, will it be more difficult for him to share my attention?

Obviously this isn't something that I need to worry about now, but this is what it's like to live inside my brain. You worry about things that really don't matter in any way whatsoever way in advance. It's fun. You should try it.

All you ladies (and guys? no?) out there with more than one kiddo, how did you decide when to add on to the family? Did you just decide to go for it one day, or was it carefully calculated? I once read an article that told the optimal age difference between children...and I have totally forgotten what it said. Two years? That sounds about right, yeah? But if that's the case I'll need to get pregnant right after his first birthday, which is just six months away. That is CRAZY to think about. I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to do that. Clearly I'm insane. (Feel free to disagree and tell me why I'm not)

7 Months

My baby is officially more than half way to his first birthday. It's crazy to think how fast the last seven months have flown by, and it's even crazier to think that in five short months I'll have a one year old little boy. Ahhhh, time slow down just a little, please!

I think every month I say that the past month has been my favorite, but I really do think his six month was our best so far. Aside from a little teething and a scary throwing up episode, it was pretty much smooth sailing in month six. He's getting bigger and cuter and funnier every day, and I'm soaking up every single minute with this guy.

Grayson,

I don't even know where to begin with your letter this month. Every single day I'm pretty sure I become just a little more obsessed with you, and I'm trying desperately to keep myself in check and not become one of those crazy mommies who spoils her baby beyond all belief...but there's a pretty good chance it might just happen. I know I'm raising you exactly how I feel like I should, exactly how it feels right to me. But I have been warned that I may be asking for trouble in the future.

Right now, you want mama near you just about 24/7. I can't really walk more than five feet away without you starting to whimper. You've got the "mamamama" thing down, and you use it anytime you think I'm leaving your comfort zone. You're happy with other people, but if we're the only ones around you want to be thisclose to me at all times. Crawling on me, sitting on my lap, touching my face, kissing me...I always say when you're in high school I'm going to remind you how you used to try and french kiss your mom all the time. I'm sure you'll love that ;)

You are becoming a huge flirt...seriously, it's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's literally like you know what you're doing and you turn on the charm for people. Or girls, to be more specific. You smile your sideways grin, bat your eyelashes, and dance or bounce up and down. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen, but it also concerns me for your future. I'm afraid you might be taking after your daddy and your Papaw. Yikes. You also will let any woman hold you and are super happy about it. Still a little leery of men though...I don't blame ya.

You are growing like a little weed. At your six month check up you weighed a little over 18 pounds, but I swear you're at least 20 now. You're also getting long, and your fingers and toes look like they belong to a little kid instead of a teeny baby. It makes mama just a little sad to see how fast you're turning into a big boy, but I really am enjoying every single new stage.

You do something new every single day, I swear, and it's so hard to keep up! As soon as I think one of your hilarious new things is going to stick, you never do it again. I need to keep better track, because man, you make me laugh with some of this stuff. Lately your laugh when you're really excited has turned into more of a grunt/squeal where it sounds like you're saying "yeah! yeah! yeah!" over and over. I've got to get it on video before you outgrow it, because it makes me laugh until I'm almost crying. You've also started screaming this hilarious happy, excited scream when Addie gets all worked up and is doing her "crazy dog" thing. And when I say screaming, I mean at the top of your lungs where it hurts our ears. It's so cute to see how excited she makes you. I'm so glad you love her so much.

You still aren't quite crawling, but man oh man are you close! You've got the back half figured out, but the arms are tripping you up. You rock, rock, rock on your hands and knees, move your knees like you need to, go into what looks like a downward facing dog yoga pose, then slowly face plant. You do this over and over and over. I know someday soon you're just going to take off...and then I'm pretty sure I'll never sit down again. You also started pulling up just about a week ago. You pull up in your crib and when you're holding onto people. You are so on the verge of being very mobile. Time to baby proof the house, I guess!

One of my favorite things you do is when we first wake up in the mornings. You lay really close to me and study my face. You look so intently, and then you start exploring things...touching my nose, my teeth, my eyes, cupping my face with your tiny hand. It's so, so sweet. You also give really good hugs now, and I can tell that the love your daddy and I have for you is mutual. It's so sweet to see you developing real feelings for the people you love.

You are officially a big boy I think, because you sit in high chairs and shopping carts when we go out now. No more lugging you around in that carseat, thank goodness. You also have made doing anything like shopping or eating out a bit difficult, because you want to touch and grab and taste and lick everything you see. I'm constantly pulling your hands off of things. You're a busy body, always exploring and studying...you've seriously been curious and studious since day one, and that definitely hasn't changed.

Your favorite things are dancing (to anything...songs, me singing, or just simply because you're happy),  laying in your bath and playing with the water coming out of the faucet, hanging all over mama, getting your hands on Addie (when she allows it), Daddy tossing you up in the air a tiny bit, or when he kisses all over your neck and belly, and anytime we ask you "Grayson, what sound does the (insert animal) make?" and then make the sound. Your least favorite things are changing clothes, although you're so much better, and eating solid foods. I think we've discovered you are not a fan of purees or of having someone feed you, so I think we're about to hop on the Baby Led Weaning train.

You are seriously just a complete and total joy to be around these days. You and I have so much fun together all day every day, and our weekends with daddy are even better. You are such a good, happy baby, and you make me so proud every single day. I love you more than life itself, and I'm so very glad you are mine.

Love,

Mama

And We're Off...

This morning we're heading out to Oklahoma for the weekend, and I am super duper excited. We're taking Grayson to the greatest little city on earth, Stillwater, America. There's an OSU game, and we wanted to make sure he gets to visit the home of his future alma mater before football season is over. We aren't actually going to the game since I'm pretty sure he wouldn't get too much out of it, but we'll be showing him around campus, hanging out with friends at the tailgate, and hopefully eating some of the yummy food we've missed so much.

I don't know what it is about that place, but I am homesick for Stillwater more than any place I've ever lived. I only lived there for three years, but it was probably the three best years of my life up to that point. I made amazing friends, had ridiculous amounts of fun, and met the love of my life. I have a million memories that make me smile and make my heart so happy. I don't think I would ever want to live there again, because it just wouldn't be the same. But I absolutely love going back to visit whenever we get the chance, and I can't wait to share it all with Grayson.

Before we head to Stillwater on Saturday, we'll be going to visit my mom and dad, and then staying with my uncles for the weekend. I'm looking forward to some good family time, and I'm even more excited because we get to go back in less than a week for Thanksgiving! Being in Oklahoma just feels like being home to me, so I love when we spend time there.

We got hit with a major cold front last night, so this weekend is going to be a cooooold one. Cold for Texas/Oklahoma standards at least. I'm hoping we won't run into any bad weather or slick roads. I think Sunday is when it's really supposed to get bad, so we're planning on leaving first thing Sunday morning to hopefully make it home before things get too bad.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe and happy weekend! I'll leave you with my favorite pic of my boys from the week. We were going for "faux-hawk", but it didn't quite work out...
Follow me on Instagram for more Grayson cuteness than you can handle :)

Style Inspiration- Kourtney Kardashian

Alright, alright....go ahead, give me a hard time for my Kardashian love. Let's just get it over with. I don't know what to tell you, I just love that whole family. And while Khloe is probably my favorite as far as someone I would actually like to hang out with, I love Kourtney's style. I feel like she dresses the most realistic to my actual life, and I love her casual/trendy mom style for every day. Also, if I had all the money in the world, I would probably dress like her on fancy schmancy occasions, too.

I am a die-hard Keeping Up With The Kardashians fan, and I'm pretty sure I've seen every episode...this includes all of the spin-offs, too. I think they are hilarious, and I think they are doing what most people in their position would do...if I could make millions upon millions by acting crazy and living my life and letting everyone watch, I probably would. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be near as scandalous...which is why no one would watch my show. Anyway, I love 'em, judge if you must.

Here are a few of my favorites from Kourtney. Even though I may not have the $ to buy her designer threads, her style is down to earth enough that it can easily be copied on my budget.
Alright, now you tell me: Who is YOUR style inspiration? And what do you think of Kourtney's look?

Potty Mouth

So...I have a confession to make to all of you lovely people: I have a potty mouth. There, I let the cat of the bag. Are you shocked? I keep my blog pretty much rated G. PG at the worst. I just don't really see a need for actually typing out any "bad words". But in real life...not so rated G. 

I'm not really sure when the whole potty mouth thing started. I'm thinking sometime during my early college years. I don't mean to say these things, but you know how habits are....I don't even notice until I'm around someone like my Grandmother and something slips out and I pray she just wasn't paying attention.

I grew up with a mother who NEVER cursed in front of me. Ever, ever. But my dad did pretty frequently. It's just how he talked, it was never a big deal and it never bothered me. I tended to model my behavior after my mother, plus I knew I absolutely would not have been allowed to say any bad words at all. I mean, crap was a cuss word in my house. So I just never tried it.

I can remember in junior high cursing when I was with my friends and feeling cool about it. Doesn't every kid go through that phase? But then after the novelty wore off I stopped. Thank goodness, because now little kids who say "bad words" really bother me. I just feel like it's disrespectful and I wonder where they learned that language...which brings me to the reason for this post.

The past six months or so I haven't really changed my vocabulary at all. I will say I think I say bad things somewhat less frequently since Grayson's arrival, but I most definitely don't sound like a saint. I also have a HORRIBLE habit of cursing when I'm mad....before I even realize what I'm saying the words are out there. Now that he's getting to the point where I can tell he is paying very close attention to the words I'm saying, and he's started with the whole babble-that-sounds-like-real-words thing, I'm starting to get a little nervous. My absolute worst nightmare would be for him to pick up on my bad language and repeat it.

So now I have to break the habit somehow. It's one I need to curb anyway, because it's certainly not very ladylike, and I don't really love the fact that it comes so naturally at this point. I'm thinking some type of "swear jar" situation might be in order...kind of like the douche bag jar on New Girl. You know what I'm talking about? Ah, I love that show.

Anyway. Got a little distracted there. The point is, I don't want to be "that mom" with "that kid" in a few years who is always getting in trouble for cussing at his little friends on the playground. So wish me (and Arsen, he's bad too) luck! And don't judge me....I blame the horrible influence of my friends. It's not my fault, I swear ;)

We've Got a Stage 5 Clinger


You guys...I jinxed myself. From the minute I found out G was going to be a boy, I started saying I was going to turn him into the biggest mama's boy ever. Umm. Mission accomplished.

This kid. I ADORE him. I love him more than life itself. He is precious and sweet and hilarious and beautiful, and I am so glad I get to spend all day every day with him. But OMG. He wants to be on top of me 24/7. ON TOP of me. Not near me or beside me. On me. And not even just sitting on my lap. Most of the time he wants to be facing me, arms around my neck, smushing his face into me. It is adorable. It is so incredibly sweet. My heart wants to burst with how much I love him and how happy I am that he loves his mama. 

But mama's tired, y'all.

About 90% of the time, I literally can't walk out of the room without it resulting in tears. He's started doing his baby babble thing where it sounds like "mama", so I walk three feet away from him and it's instantly "mamamamama" with tears. Or a panicked "ahhh!". Like, "woman, where are you going?!? Why would you leave me here all alone?!?". It is unreal.

I'm not gonna lie, at first it just made my heart swell a little bit when he started it. It's nice to feel loved and needed, yeah? Everyone feels that way. And I love this little baby oh so much that it felt good to know that the love was mutual. Even still, it doesn't really bother me. But I'm sure not getting much done these days. And OH, my aching back. He's not a petite baby...hauling around nearly 20 pounds all day every day is quite a workout.

I'm hopeful that this is just a stage. At least to this extreme. Of course I want him to want me around and to snuggle up and hug me and give me wet baby kisses all the time. But I would like to be able to run to the bathroom without him freaking out.

But honestly...I'm not complaining. It's nice to be loved by the most precious baby in the world. I'll take the exhaustion and the sore back and the not-getting-anything-done. I'm sure this time will pass all too soon, so I'm gonna soak it up while I can.

Oh, Monday...Why Are You Here Again

How is the weekend already over? Seriously, how does this happen? I feel like it was just Friday afternoon. It's not near as depressing now that I get to stay home with the little one, but still...weekends are just always more fun.

We had a pretty low-key weekend over here. A whole lotta grown up stuff, nothing too exciting. Friday night my big event was going to get a spray tan and picking up Chipotle for dinner. Wife of the year, right here. Then, I spent the majority of my evening from about 9:30 until forever holding a restless baby who just couldn't seem to stay asleep.  And then from midnight until right around 3 AM I got to sit up with a very, very wide awake baby. It was unreal. I can't think of any other time that he has literally gotten up in the middle of the night and just stayed up. I ended up just coming into the living room and watching TV for about an hour until he finally passed out. Then the little stinker woke up at 7:30 ready to go...thankfully I married a great man who got up with him and let me sleep until about 9:30. Thank the good Lord above, because I would have never survived on less than five hours of sleep. That stuff is for the birds. And mommies of newborns. And I am neither.
Right before he woke up...and stayed up...

After we finally got up and around, we went to the place where all families seem to go on Saturday afternoons: CostCo. OMG...what a cluster f-word that was. Pure chaos. From there we went to Central Market for groceries. This literally took about three hours, so G ended napping through most of the grocery shopping. After we were back in the car heading home, I looked at Arsen and said "Babe, we are such grown ups. Seriously, our entire Saturday was spent grocery shopping." It made me feel incredibly lame. But somehow, I'm fine with it.

Then, just to spice things up, we decided to go have sushi for dinner. This was not the wisest idea, since Grayson has been a bit fussy/sleeping strange/etc., but Arsen was having a serious craving. So we got there, and Grayson was happy in his high chair for approximately three minutes. Then he wanted water, he wanted to chew on a straw, he wanted to chew on the table, he wanted OUT, he wanted to throw everything we handed him onto the floor...needless to say, it was the quickest dinner I think we've ever had. 

On our way home around 6:30, Grayson fell asleep for a little nap...which meant he was definitely not ready for bed at 8, which is what his normal bedtime is. So he got to hang out with us until about 10:30, and then he and I both passed out. What a very exciting Saturday night we had...sigh.

Sunday was spent cleaning house, cleaning out the flower bed in our front yard because it was 85 FREAKING DEGREES outside, (seriously, people...it's November), and getting all the Christmas decorations out, strewing them all over the house, and then not finishing a thing. 

All in all, not a bad weekend. We spent a lot of time lounging around on the floor trying to get G to crawl and giving Addie some much needed attention. Grayson has started a couple of new things that we find just absolutely precious. He growls a lot, which is hilarious. He's been rolling his tongue around in his mouth all weekend and pursing his lips up in a little O. And he has started screaming. Mainly at Addie. Anytime she barks, or runs past him, or plays with Arsen...or just gets near him. He screams and laughs and shrieks. It is so loud it is unreal. But so cute. He also pulled up by himself to standing for the first time. He was sitting in his crib and next thing we knew he was just standing there. Big boy!

So now we start a new week. We might possibly be going to Oklahoma for an OSU game this upcoming weekend, so if so it should make the week pass by quickly. My major goal for the week is to actually get all of these Christmas decorations put out...but that sounds somewhat brutal, so there's a good chance come next weekend all these tubs will still be laying around our living room. Wish me luck! 

Guess What I Did....

So, I'm a brunette now. After my years and years of obsessing and debating whether or not to dye my hair brown, I finally did it. If you saw my post on Tuesday you know that I seriously have been thinking about this for almost a decade now, and after much thought, a lot of super sweet comments from you guys, and Arsen telling me to "go big or go home", I went for it.

And it feels weird.
I've been blonde for all 29 of my years on this earth. I've played around with "dark blonde", but never enough to even be close to considered brown. So now I feel like an impostor. It's hilarious how big of an affect my hair color has on me. Every time I see myself in the mirror I do a double take, and I'm still not totally convinced that I love it. But I am relieved that I finally did it. Man, it's about time.

In other news, my sweet bebe boy is still on the mission to crawl, but he just can't quite get it down. Poor guy has been at it for seriously almost a month now. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth and back and forth, moves his knees exactly like he needs to...and then does a slow face plant because he just can't quite figure out that his arms need to move too. There is a lot of grunting and squealing, and eventually, frustrated tears involved. I just want to do it for him, but I know he'll eventually get it on his own. And I feel like this will be a common theme in my life from here on out...learning to back off and let him figure things out on his own.
Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet week around here. My mom has been here for the past couple of days, which is always nice, and it also allowed me the chance to go get a much needed massage. So amazing. If only that could be a weekly thing...

 This weekend we have a whole lot of nothin' planned at the moment, just the way I like it. I feel like it's the calm before the storm that is holiday season hits, so I'm soaking it up while I can. I'm looking forward to a long weekend of spending some time with my hottie of a husband, lots of playing with G, giving Addie some much needed attention, and most likely a lot of time spent watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix (I'm almost done, waah!) and playing on Pinterest. Sounds like heaven, doesn't it?

I hope you all have a positively fabulous weekend! See ya Monday ;)

A Family Photo Session


A little while ago we decided to get family photos done. Or, more accurately, I decided we needed to have six month photos done for Grayson, Arsen disagreed, I got very sad and explained just exactly why I was so sad (I want to treasure and preserve every important milestone of our first precious baby, duh), and Arsen surprised me by scheduling a session with our favorite photographer without my knowledge.

And that is why I married him, friends.

So about two weeks ago we gathered up Grayson and Addie and headed to this beautiful waterfall area in Richardson for some photos. That morning was hectic, to say the least. I had planned out our outfits a few weeks before, and like the amateur mother that I am, I didn't try G's clothes on him beforehand. So about 30 minutes before we were leaving Arsen was getting him dressed and his sweater was HUGE. It's a 3-6 month size, so I figured we were good since that size always fits. So of course I start panicking, and I realize there isn't anything else that he has that I feel is "photo appropriate". So I found the only sweater he has that really fits him and matched with what I had picked out for Arsen and I, and I just went with it.

I had also decided that I wanted Addie to be in a few pictures, because we've never done photos (other than maternity, and I was too pregnant to care ha) without her. I decided this last minute, of course, so she hadn't been groomed and desperately needed a bath. So before I showered and got myself ready that morning I bathed her, brushed her, and made her look all pretty.

Needless to say, mama was the least primped for photos out of the entire bunch, but I still think they turned out beautiful. Grayson was the best baby EVER for the entire shoot, and we even got Addie to cooperate for a few. We tried getting one of just the two of them but she was not having it. No big surprise there.

The photographer was actually someone we hadn't used before that works for Laura, who normally does our pictures, but she did an excellent job. If anyone in the DFW area is looking for a photographer, be sure to check out Fairy Tale Photography. They do an AMAZING job. They've done our engagement, wedding, maternity, and now G's 6 month photos, and they have all been perfect. She typically only does wedding related photos, but I think once you're a loyal customer she'll help you out with just about anything :)

Here are a few of my favorites. I think I've looked at them a hundred times. That baby is just so darn photogenic I can't stand it!

Super Easy Peach-Berry Smoothie


So yesterday I woke up and had no idea what to have for breakfast. I'm so sick of cereal, we're out of bagels, and Grayson was being way too clingy for me to take the time to cook eggs or something. So I decided to grab a few random things, throw them into the blender, and hope for the best. And wouldn't ya know, somehow I made a delicious little smoothie that even my husband enjoyed! So I thought I'd share it with you guys.

Here's what I used:

2 cups frozen peaches

1 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)

3 cups vanilla soymilk

1 cup ice 

1/4 cup honey

I blended it all together for a few minutes on the smoothie setting, and voila! Yummy little smoothie ready before Grayson could reach full on meltdown mode :) This made quite a bit, probably around six glasses I would say. I suppose you could always cut the recipe in half if you don't need quite so much.

I'm a huge fan of smoothies, but almost every single smoothie recipe I see calls for yogurt. G seems to be lactose intolerant or something, so since I'm breastfeeding I've pretty much cut dairy out of my diet. I would love it if you guys would be so kind as to leave any non-dairy smoothie recipes you know in the comments! I would be ever so grateful :)

To Go Dark....Or Not to Go Dark

Over the last, oh, 8 years or so, I have constantly been debating whether or not to dye my hair dark. I've always, always been a blonde, and I gotta be honest...I'm scared to go for it. Every once in awhile I get "brave" and I'll tell my hairdresser to go a little darker. But it always ends up being just dark blonde. I don't think that counts exactly.

So, now I'm trying to decide if this year will in fact be the year that I find the courage. I know it's not that big of a deal, and I can always dye it back to blonde if I hate it. But the idea of walking around hating my hair for weeks doesn't sound all that appealing.

Am I the only person who freaks out about this? I feel like I know so many people who go from light to dark and short to long, and I literally have had the same hair color and cut for about 10 years now. I seriously need to just suck it up...ahhh!

Here are a few of the ideas that I have. Thoughts? Opinions? I'd love to hear 'em.